


The Ties Between Us

by Aili_Souma



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Family Bonding, Family Issues, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Slash, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-29 09:10:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 58,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5122688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aili_Souma/pseuds/Aili_Souma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At age five, Harry meets Draco and that small fact changed everything. As they grow up they will have to face challenges to keep their friendship, but when the things you fight are the prejudices and beliefs from inside, that might just prove itself a bigger problem than children could have ever noticed. Future Drarry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Harry Potter

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Since it’s Halloween I think this is the perfect date to post this.  
> This has been a very long project that I’ve been writing for almost two years now, so obviously it’s a story I really care about and I hope you all will enjoy it. It’s very long so I have a few chapters ready, hopefully my writing will always be ahead from the updates so you don’t have to wait long, so far I’m thinking a chapter per week, let’s see how that goes.  
> So for now we’re going to start at Harry childhood, but as soon as the important stuff happens I will skip time a bit more so we can get to book one. And yes, it’s gonna be Drarry, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry, but I’m trying my best to make this natural, so even if you don’t really like slash, at least give it a try, who knows.  
> Also this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

 

 

Chapter One: Harry Potter

 

Draco Malfoy was a lonely boy, he was very well loved by his parents, he had a close relationship with his godfather and he even got a few friends that would visit him from time to time, but still something never felt quite right, he always supposed it was because he was alone most of the time. His father, Lucius Malfoy, wasn’t a warm and loving person, but he would always spend time with his son and give him a few smiles and, sometimes, if Draco was really good and his father was in a good mood, he would let Draco sleep with the head on his lap. Narcisa Malfoy, on the other hand, was a very loving mother, if only no one was looking, she was the one who spent more time with Draco, because different from Lucius she didn’t have work outside of the manor they lived in, but despite how much she loved her son, she couldn’t give him the same interaction that children have with each other.

Close by the manor there was a village with a few children, but Draco wasn’t allowed to play with them because they were all muggles and he was a Malfoy and Malfoys don’t get close to this kind of filth. In fact, the only reason why there was a muggle village close to Malfoy Manor was because they needed to hide the fact Mr. Malfoy was a death eater,  because back on the war it was very useful to attest they weren’t involved with the Dark Lord using the muggle village as example.

Despite being all a disguise, Mr. Malfoy always had a close eye on the village, making sure none of the residents would give him trouble or get too close to the manor and other wizard business. To keep them even more distant he would also make sure none of the residents had magical children or family connections to wizards, the only exception was Mr. Gabbour, a squib that would play the role of mayor of the little village and tell Mr. Malfoy when someone new had arrived or any other problem that would concern the wizard. In the few visits Mr. Malfoy made to the man, Draco would always try to convince his father to let him go too, sometimes being successful, so he could look at the other children around and the funny little houses they lived in.

It was one of the days that Severus was visiting his godson that an owl from Mr. Gabbour arrived in the manor. Mr. Malfoy read the letter and an ugly expression showed in his face.

“Bad news?” Asked Snape not truly interested.

“Maybe, apparently the woman who moved to the village last month invited her family over to see the new house, they have arrived earlier today”

“Does he think there will be a problem?”

“He said it might, which is not good enough”

“Considering how disgusting she sounded when you described her…”

“Exactly, I will have to go down there”

Very annoyed about it all, Lucius stood up from his place.

“Hopefully it won’t take too long”

“Can I go with you, father?” said Draco looking up from the book his godfather had just presented him minutes ago.

“Severus came to see you, you shall spend time with him”

Draco didn’t say anything further, but it was clear to Severus that Draco wanted to go with his father.

“I think we could all do with a walk, it’s a lovely day” In truth, Severus didn’t want to say anything, he wasn’t interested in going anywhere close to the pet village the Malfoys had, but it did concern him the amount of time Draco spend on his own locked inside the house. He knew the boy only wanted to get out of the house for a bit and he thought he could do this for him if only this once.

“Very well. Go and change, Draco”

With a nod, the boy vanished from the room as fast as would be acceptable, before his father could change his mind.

Soon the trio was at Mr. Gabbour doorsteps looking very strange in such a muggle place.

“Mr. Malfoy!” Welcomed Mr. Gabbour, for which Lucius gave a short nod and started following the man, but stopping as he notice Severus not moving.

“Not coming?”

“Your business, I’m more interested in looking around” It was a lie, but Severus did not care if Lucius would notice or not, he wasn’t interested in listening to the conversation.

Without saying anything else the two man entered the house and Severus finally turned to look at Draco. The boy was looking around clearly wanting to walk around and explore.

“Come, let’s have a walk”

Draco didn’t say a thing, but Severus could see through his eyes that he was really excited to be able to walk around the muggle village. He knew this was a bad thing, Lucius would not be pleased if his son started having an interest in muggles, but he supposed, considering Draco was only five, that he was going to grow out of it eventually. In fact Severus was so distracted with his thoughts that he didn’t notice that Draco wasn’t following him anymore.

\--

Draco was looking around very happy to finally be able to have a proper look around and to be able to see parts of the village he hadn’t seen so far. He looked at this godfather a few times and notice he didn’t appear very interest, in fact Draco suspected that Severus knew he wanted to look around and that was why he found a way for them to do it, sometimes Draco was sure his godfather understood him like no one else.

The two of them were almost in the end of one of the village’s streets when Draco notice two boys with ages not far from his own, he always loved when he found other children in the way to Mr. Gabbour’s house, he knew he shouldn’t because they were muggles and because in the end he would just be frustrated that he wasn’t allowed to play with them anyway. Stopping on the street, Draco started to analyze the two boys, one was very small, probably younger than him and with clothes too big to be his own, the other one was the exactly opposite, he was big, even bigger than Draco, and he was very fat for such a young age, Draco was hopping the boy was at least a year or two older than him, because he was too big. One thing that caught his attention thought was the way the small boy was walking backwards until he bumped into a wall, it was clear to him that he was scared of the bigger boy.

Draco twisted his nose, as if something smelled bad, and looked at Severus to see if he had notice what was going on with the two boy, but as he did so, he noticed that his godfather was nowhere in sight and that meant he was in big trouble. He was just going to leave the place to go after his godfather before his father found out the two of them got separated, when he saw the bigger boy hitting the small one on the stomach in what looked like a very painful punch. Making out his mind Draco walked to the two boys.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Said Draco in what he hoped was a good impersonation of his father but only managing to sound arrogant and not powerful.

The two boys looked at him startled by someone else noticing them, but as soon as they gave a proper look to Draco their reactions were very different. The small boy looked scared as hell and looked at Draco as if he was the maddest person he had ever seen, the bigger boy, on the other hand, smiled, contended that Draco was smaller than him.

“Who do you think you are?” Said the bigger boy sounding very arrogant and full of himself.

“I am Draco Malfoy”

Draco was sure that as soon as the boy knew who he was he was going to back down, he might not know about wizards, but the people on the village all knew the Malfoys were an important family and owner of the lands around the village, well, actually he was owner of the village too, but that was a small thing that the muggles didn’t need to know.

But none of the boys recognized the name, in fact the bigger boy laughed.

“Seems like you found your lost brother, freak, he is just as weird as you” Said the bigger boy looking at the smaller one.

Draco didn’t completely understand what the boy was saying, but he knew he had just being called a freak and that was unacceptable. But before he could give him a piece of his mind the _whale_ grabbed him.

“Wanna play with us?” the boy talked with his face so close to Draco’s that he could smell the bad breath that made his stomach feel strange, but the boy didn’t seem to notice as he gave Draco a smirk.

“How dare you….”

Draco was still fusing in the boys hand, trying to break free when they notice someone approaching.

“What is going on here?”

As Severus deep voice filled their ears, the boy let go of Draco and looked up a bit scared, clearly looking for some kind of excuse, but it was clear to Draco, that he wasn’t going to be successful and so he smirked back to the boy.

“This boy was causing trouble” said Draco feeling very smugly.

“That’s a lie! You are the one who came to provoke us! Look, sir, how my cousin is all scared”

“He is scared because you were punching him!” Said Draco losing a bit of his cool, that boy was truly what his father would call a true slytherin (if only he wasn’t a muggle). How dare he have the nerve to blame him!

Draco looked up to see how his godfather was going to react when he saw a funny look in his face as he looked to the small boy, he them turned to the small boy, but couldn’t figure out what could have caused such reaction, maybe it was the too big clothes and the funny glasses?

Whatever it was, Severus wasn’t saying anything and Draco was getting really annoyed, he looked around, hoping for some kind of miracle to happen when he saw his father and Mr. Gabbour walking on their direction. The bigger boy, that also noticed the two man and the similarity between one of them and Draco, started to panic, because if the blond man was the boy’s father, he would obviously defend his own son.

“I wasn’t punching anyone!” said the bigger boy in a voice even louder than before.

Draco was getting even more upset with the screaming when he realized what the boy was doing, the front door of the house opened and a man that looked more fat than Draco thought it was possible walked out going in their direction.

“What is going on here?” Said the man very rudely

Draco was so impressed by the man size that he didn’t even say anything, while the bigger boy smirked thinking he was scared.

_As if! You don’t know MY father._

“What is going on here indeed” Said Lucius in a controlled voice as he got closer to the group.

“This boy was hitting the other one and has threaten me, father” Said Draco looking up at his father.

Lucius gave the bigger boy a cold look and Draco smirked as he saw now who should really be scared of who.

“That… that’s a lie, sir”

“Is it?” said Lucius in a calm voice that Draco knew was amused, clearly his father didn’t believe the boy, but wasn’t showing quite yet.

“I’m sure of it, my Dudley wouldn’t be causing trouble” Said the fat man still a bit aggressive but clearly noticing that Lucius was not a man he wanted to cross.

Lucius looked firmly at the man who was getting visibly uncomfortable.

“What have you done this time, boy?” Said the man now looking at the small boy.

Draco almost snorted at the man, did he really thought he could blame a boy that couldn’t even look up and was pretending to not exist ever since it all started? Come on, how stupid that family was?

“Severus?” said Lucius as he noticed his friend not saying anything.

“Look… at the boy” Said Severus without taking his eyes from the small boy still cornered against the wall.

Lucius did as he was told and Draco could see his father distaste for the poor state the boy was in, but nothing seemed so special about him, so why was Severus so interested in him. Whatever it was it seemed his father noticed it too because his eyes went wide for a moment before he turned his head looking at Severus for confirmation.

“Oh my” Said Lucius as Severus nodded his head, he took a step closer to the boy and put his hand on his chin to have a better look at the boy’s face,  his fingers brushed something on the boys forehead that Draco couldn’t see and the fat man shifted uncomfortable.

“This is an accident he had as a baby” Said the fat man very abruptly and looking like he wanted to do nothing than to grab the boy and disappear with him.

“I know what this is” Said Lucius without taking his eyes of the boy.

The fat man’s face got red and he was clearly in panic now.

“So this is little Harry Potter” Said Lucius smiling

Draco’s eyes went wide and he looked to the small boy again. This was Harry Potter?

\--

When Harry first heard that Aunt Marge was moving, he had hoped that she would go somewhere so far away that they never would see her again, unfortunately that did not happen, in fact she even invited them to go and see the new house. Obviously the Dursleys didn’t want Harry to go with them, but there was no one to look after him on the days Uncle Vernon would be off from his job, so with much complaining and warnings they took him.

Harry knew his stay on Aunt Marge’s house would be horrible because the woman seem to hate him even more than his aunt and uncle, he was also sure he was going to sleep on the floor or something and even if his cupboard wasn’t the most comfortable place, it was better than the floor.

Not long after they arrived Harry and Dudley had been sent out, Harry didn’t like listening to Aunt Marge’s insults, but he knew it was much worse to be outside alone with Dudley. In fact not much time had passed and his cousin was already cornering him and punching him, which was one of his favorite games along with ‘Harry Hunt’.

What surprised Harry was to see a boy interfering, because that had never happened before, he was bigger than him, but then so was everyone, but not as big as Dudley, which was as good to Harry as it was bad for the boy, because he clearly had no idea of the kind of trouble he was in, Dudley would just punch him too and maybe even blame Harry for it. As harry looked at the blond boy he couldn’t help but be scared of him too, because either he was mad, and his aunt and uncle hatted mad people, or he was really capable of beating Dudley and that was a very scary thought, if a boy like that could beat his cousin, he would very likely kill him.

Suddenly the situation had gone out of control, there was a man close to the blond boy and Dudley manage to make Uncle Vernon get out of the house. Harry just wanted to disappear, especially because the man with the long black hair seemed to be looking at him with too much interesting and Harry was worried that he would see he was a freak and blame him for what happened just like Uncle Vernon was doing.

Suddenly there was a hand on his chin and he saw himself staring at another blond person, one that Harry was sure was the other boy’s father, they were very much alike but the man had some kind of scary thing that made Harry feel all cold inside, he looked at Harry as if he had found a treasure, but also as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes.

And then another strange thing happened, the man said his name. No one ever said his name, not even his aunt and uncle most of time, but there it was, that stranger knew his name and Harry had no idea how was that possible.

Uncle Vernon, who had been very furious ever since he left the house, was now in a mixed state of fury and panic.

“You two, get inside the house!”

Dudley was going to protest but Uncle Vernon grabbed his arm and shoved him aside, he was just going to do the same thing with Harry but the blond man put his hand on Harry’s shoulder and looked at Vernon daring him to even touch the boy. Seen he wasn’t going to make it, Harry’s uncle only made sure Dudley went to the house, but Harry was certain that after everything was over he was the one going to pay for it, in fact he was quite mad at the blond man for keeping him there, that action was going to cost Harry a few more beatings than usual.

“So, you are one of _them_ ” Said Uncle Vernon as soon as Dudley was out of sight.

Harry looked up at his uncle and them at the other people with them, the way his uncle talked could only mean one thing: those people were like him. In all his short life Harry had never met anyone like him and he was almost positive that he probably was the only one in the world that was like _that_. Not that he knew what _that_ means, but it was what his aunt and uncle said he was.

The blond man seemed very amused by the way Uncle Vernon referred to them, it was probably because he was older and had listened to it lots of times. Harry wondered if that was his future, to just get used to it.

Soon the sound of the door came again and Harry saw Aunt Petunia walking out of the door in clear distress.

“Vernon, what happened?”

But before Harry’s uncle could say a thing Aunt Petunia made a weird noise that Harry had never heard before.

“YOU” Said the woman pointing at the man with the long black hair.

“Petunia” Said the man with a smirk causing Aunt Petunia to make another one of the weird noise and get closer to Uncle Vernon.

“Oh Vernon, he is one of _them_ ”

Uncle Vernon’s face got even more red and he had the ugliest face Harry had ever seen.

“You two know each other?” Asked the blond man still very amused and Harry couldn’t believe how he wasn’t scared of Uncle Vernon.

“Unfortunately” Answered the other man in his deep and calm voice.

“Do you think they want him?” Said Uncle Vernon in a quiet voice and a bit of hope showing up.

Harry looked to the pair and had a bit of hope himself that maybe those people would take him away, after all they were like him, maybe they would like him? But Aunt Petunia didn’t seem happy with the perspective, what Harry thought was a bit strange.

“Go inside, boy” Said Petunia shaking her head as if denying something.

Harry looked up to the blond man that still had a hand on his shoulder, he didn't know what he should do, he knew that not going on was going to cost him greatly, but he really wanted to stay, it was the first time he ever got this close to someone like him.

"Get inside!" Said Petunia in a high pitched voice.

Seen the distress his Aunt was Harry stepped away from the blond man and this was all his uncle needed to grab his arm painfully and shove him in the way to door, the movement was very suddenly so Harry few hurting his hand on the floor, but he was used to it, so he soon hurried back to his feel and run back to the house.

As soon as the boy was out of sign Petunia turned to Snape with fearful eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked sharply.

"I could ask you the same?" Said Snape with a smirk, such a long time and it still looked like no time had passed at all.

"You stay away from my family, Snape! I know what you've done, Lily told me all about your... _Friends_ "

"We should just give them the boy, they will leave us alone" said Vernon full of hope, not seen what was the real problem between his wife and the dark hair man.

"Not to them, Vernon, not to them"

"You don't want the child?" Asked Lucius finally sounding confused.

"No, we never wanted!" Said Vernon full of rage.

"Enough” Said Petunia staring at her husband before turning back to Snape “I don’t know how you found us or what your intentions are, but we are not giving the boy to _you_! You made my sister go to that… that _school_ , now look where that got her! We are not going to let the boy be part of any of this. _Ever_!”

With this last words Petunia grabbed her husband’s arm, who look very smug and approving of his wife words, and turned around intending to go back to the house.

“I’m sorry, but I clear must have misunderstood you… Are you saying you intend on keeping Mr. Potter from going to Hogwarts?” Asked Lucius with Severus knew to be false politeness.

“He’s not going!” Said Vernon looking furious again.

And using the shocked expressions of the group of wizard as distraction the Dusleys got inside the house, locking the door and putting down the curtains.

“What was that? Are they completely mad?” Asked Draco after so long only watching.

His voice called back the attention of the two man who still looked at the closed door with atonement.

“That was… unexpected” Said Lucius very put out and all Severus could do was silently agree with him.

\--

Back at the manor, Draco was finishing the tale of what had happen for the second time so that his mother, who was sitting with them at the table, would also know all about him meeting Harry Potter.

“I heard he was living with muggles, but I wasn’t expecting such filth things” Said Lucius to all on the table.

“But they don’t live there, right? We would have known if Harry Potter was living in our grounds” Asked Narcissa still in shock with the recent events.

“No, apparently he is related with the woman who moved here. They must be hiding the boy pretty well, I never allow people related to wizards to move in”

“Who are those people anyway? They are horrible, why is Potter living with them?” Asked Draco not over the fact that the bigger boy had tried to hit him.

“I don’t know, I thought he was supposed to be with relatives?” asked Lucius giving Severus a pointed look to tell his friend he expected an explanation.

“They are his aunt and uncle” Said Severus with distaste.

“Are you sure? Why would they treat him like that?” Asked Lucius in an almost surprised tone.

“Petunia is Lily’s sister, but she hated Lily since she found out that only her sister was to go to Hogwarts”

“She was jealous them! It’s know to happen on muggle families”

“Exactly. For what we saw, it seems like her views on magic hasn’t change”

“I did not knew you were so close to Mr. Potter’s family, Severus” Said Narcissa in a false surprise that always got Severus to hate the woman.

“We were neighbors in childhood”

“And friends back in Hogwarts, I remember you and little Miss Evans causing quite the fuss back on our days, Slytherin and Griffindor been friends and all that”

Severus looked at Lucius and recognized his knowing look, his friend was the only one who got closer to the full knowledge of his secret besides Dumbledore. Lucius was older than Severus, the man was already a prefect when he got into Hogwarts, but part of the friendship they now had was formed on the three years they spend together at school, in fact it was said friendship that helped Severus to go up so fast on the Dark Lord’s ranks after his graduation. Back at Hogwarts Lucius had seen Severus trying to maintain the friendship of one Lily Evans, the girl who later became Lily Potter, and Lucius had a pretty good idea of the feelings his friend had for the girl. Since Severus and Lily had broken their friendship on their fifth year, she was never mentioned between the two friends, but Lucius knew that Severus had tried to ask the Dark Lord to keep her alive when he went after the boy, so he also had a few ideas about the man’s feelings even after the broke up. Severus knew that Lucius had his suspicions but it was an unspoken agreement that they would never talk about it, not to one another, not to someone else.

“Still a bit surprising though, even if she does not like magic, the way you all talked seemed like Potter is not in the best of companies” Said Narcissa looking at the two men and ignoring their previous eye exchange.

“That’s an understatement. He was supposed to be five now, but he was clearly far too small and doesn’t look much health… and the _clothes_ he was wearing was definitely not his” Said Lucius with distaste.

“But the Potters had a lot of money, I’m sure they have enough to take proper care of the boy” Said Narcissa still not fully taking sides on the matter.

“He doesn’t have accesses to his vault yet, but I know that Dumbledore made sure they receive enough for the basics” Said Severus starting to get into deep thoughts, why would the boy be in such bad shape? He was expecting a spoiled boy, not a scared cat.

“That’s a thing to be taken in consideration, shouldn’t Dumbledore be aware of the boy? Like… to make sure everything is in place? What would happen if the boy was to die of starvation? It would be quite a tale to have the _savior_ surviving a killing curse and dying of starvation on his own family watch” Said Lucius with humor.

Severus got deep into thoughts after Lucius words, Dumbledore had said the boy was alright and that he had someone watching, but clearly something must have gone very wrong, that boy he saw today wasn’t anywhere close to what he was expecting. Severus also thought about how Albus knew about Petunia’s distaste for magic, he knew how Lily had suffered after her sister started mistreating her, so why had he left the boy without keeping a close eye on him? Severus knew about the blood wards, he understood the protection the boy needed, but nothing of that would be useful if, as Lucius said, the boy was to die of something like family mistreatment. Severus himself had gone through that, his family wasn’t the best thing in the world, his mother tried, but his father was not a good man, he knew the kind of things that could happen in bad family environments and despite his feeling to the Potter boy, he didn’t want the boy to die or to be too traumatized that he won’t be able to fight back when the time came.

“I will talk to Dumbledore about it, I’m sure he has no idea about it and will be doing something”

“Why can’t we just bring him here?” Said Draco making all the adults look at him “I mean… the man said he didn’t want Potter, so why not just take him from them instead?”

A bit of silence followed Draco’s words, but each one of them holding it for different reasons, because the other two Malfoys looked quite interested in their son’s words, but Severus was feeling cold from the inside out, because he knew taking Potter from his relatives wasn’t an option, he was living with them so he could be protected, but the Malfoys didn’t knew that and he wasn’t about to tell them.

“Things don’t work like that, Draco, you can’t just take a child from his legal guardians” Said Severus in what he hoped was a good way to dismiss the idea from the child’s mind, not that he was lying, what he said was true and he knew the other adults also knew that, which was the reason he wasn’t so worried about living Potter in a house so close to Malfoy Manor, he knew the Malfoys wouldn’t do something as foolish as taking the boy.

“That’s another thing to be taking in consideration” Said Lucius not noticing his friend internal distress “If that woman hadn’t recognized you, her husband would have given the boy to the first wizard who asked, considering no one is looking after the boy he could have disappeared and no one would know about it until it was time for him to go to Hogwarts. I can just imagine the repercussions if the _famous_ Harry Potter didn’t show up for school, especially when everyone find out it was because Dumbledore left him in a muggle house with people with history of hating magic.  If Dumbledore doesn’t know the boy has been mistreated how is he going to know that someone took him and… I don’t know… killed him?”

All the arguments only made Severus feel worse, because in the end Lucius was _right_ and the thought of it scared the hell out of him, his purpose in life was to make sure _her_ son survived and he thought that it was fine until he was due to Hogwarts because Dumbledore had the same interest that he had on keeping the boy alive, but now he was starting to dumb even that, especially considering the old man was unable to protect Lily, if he had fail her, it means it was possible to him to fail again.

Soon, Severus left Malfoy Manor, going straight to his quarters in Hogwarts, he felt sorry for it because he was supposed to stay with Draco the rest of the day and dine with him, but having a talk with the Headmaster was more important in that moment and he could make up to his godson another time.

“What a surprise, Severus, I thought you were spending your day with the Malfoys, did something happened?” Said Dumbledore with an unimpressed tone as soon as Severus entered the room.

“Actually, yes” Said Severus finally getting the other man’s full attention.

“Do tell”

“I saw Potter today”

With this Dumbledore’s eyes looked even more attentive to Severus, ready to eat his every word.

“How did this happen?”

“Someone related to his aunt and uncle moved to the Malfoy’s pet village, Lucius went there to deal with the caretaker and Draco wanted to have a look around, we ended up meeting him there, by accident”

“How was him? Did you talk to him? Did the Malfoys?”

Severus looked Dumbledore in the eye for a moment, the man sounded more worried when he asked if the Malfoys had talked with the boy then when he asked how the boy was and Severus felt his blood boil with something he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

“We didn’t have enough time to talk to him with Petunia and her _husband_ screaming at us and at the boy, trying to blame him for _attracting_ us”

“Is that so?” Said Dumbledore starting to lose interest in what was being said.

“They are mistreating the boy” Said Severus abruptly, trying to get back the other man’s attention “He looked really scared when we were there and Petunia was screaming insults at us just like she did Lily…”

“That doesn’t look like mistreatment, she was nervous with people intruding and he was scared of new people around, he’s only five, it’s a normal behavior” Said Dumbledore interrupting the explanation.

“That wasn’t all!” answered Severus starting to get angry “He’s looking too small, he doesn’t look like he’s receiving enough food, his clothes were clearly second handed and not fitting and Draco said his cousin was punching him”

“I’m sure things can’t be that bad, you must be seeing things because you had a bad encounter with Lily’s older sister” Said Dumbledore dismissing again what was being said.

“Lucius agree with me, does he also had personal reasons to do so?” Said Severus stopping his sarcasm the best way he could, but seen Dumbledore’s silence, he went back to talking “Petunia said she won’t let the boy attend Hogwarts”

“She can’t do that”

“Her husband was almost begging us to take the boy from them, they don’t want him, so they are mistreating him as punishment”

“They can’t give away the boy, Petunia’s husband might be willing to do it, but I’m sure she won’t let him do it, she knows how import it is for the boy to stay in her house, in fact the protection of the blood wards not only keeps Harry save, but also his family, Petunia won’t let the boy go”

“You are ignoring what I’m saying”

“Why would Petunia hurt her own nephew?”

“Why would she hurt her own _sister?_ ”

Silence followed for a while, both men looking to each other and trying to see understand what the other was thinking.

“I don’t think Petunia would do anything that would put Harry at risk, the main reason why he’s there is to be save and she knows about it all, but I do have someone looking out just in case, so I know that nothing too bad is happening or I would have been informed” Said Dumbledore gently, thinking a bit more before continuing “But if it will ease your mind, I will pay them a visit as soon as the Easter Holiday is over”

“Why not sooner?”

“Because I’m sure they intend on staying in the house of this relative you mention for the duration of the holiday and I don’t want to intrude too much and make them even more scared them what you said they were”

Severus gave Dumbledore another intense look, he knew that the man had a strong agreement with Lily’s sister and all the reasons why the boy had to live with her, but something had set him off when he saw the state of the boy, something that had hit a sore spot of his own childhood and he couldn’t shake it off. Unfortunately, the only thing he could do was to trust Dumbledore, so he agreed with him, hoping that a visit would scare Petunia enough to start treating the boy a little better. And he could always pay her a surprise visit, just to make sure, after all, Lily would have been horrified if she knew what her own sister was doing to her son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter.  
> So what originated this story was my desire to read something where Harry and Draco had the chance to grow together or be friends, but also something close to canon. Here obviously it’s the diversion point between canon and my story, so a few things aren’t still in place.  
> One thing that usually made me uncomfortable in this kind of story is the “Good Malfoys” thing. For me the Malfoys really believe in blood purity and tradition, if anything I think they believe it even more than Voldemort himself, because they are actually pureblood and because they’re from families with tradition and respect and a strong name, so for me, even if they weren’t with Voldemort, they would be ‘good’. But there’s one thing I know there are: a loving family. And love is a very complicated thing, because most people think it has to be pretty or for you to love you have to be good.  
> The Malfoys in my view do love each other very much, in fact we can see bits of it all over the books, the most visible, obviously, is Narcisa’s love for her son, but I don’t think Lucius loved Draco any less, just different, in the end he does go around Hogwarts in the middle of war screaming for his son, I think that says a lot about him in that aspect. So this is something that is going to play out a lot in this story and is the canon I believe in, that says the Malfoys aren’t good but they love each other.  
> Also, there’s something on Pottermore about how Lucius thought Harry was going to become the next dark lord or something and how a lot of Death Eaters thought Harry only needed the right kind of influence to became one of them. In fact that makes a lot of sense, because you can’t know if a baby is good or bad until it develops character and Voldemort himself asked Harry to join him in the first book, so I believe a lot of people would have interest in a young Harry. This is what I’m playing with, Lucius is not interested on saving Harry from his awful family, but he want to get close to the boy, see if he is what he’s expecting and use this to give Dumbledore some trouble.  
> Severus is also going to play a part in this, but no, he would be the Severus that suddenly feels sorry for Harry and starts liking him, in this story he will be very much the man we see on the books and that includes his contradictions. He’s going to be like roller-coaster, full of ups and downs. I will talk more about him in other chapters, but so far I have only talked a bit about his relationship with the Malfoys. I think Snape being Draco’s godfather is just a headcanon, but it’s a good one, so I’m using it, also I put a little bit of what his relationship with the Malfoys are, Narcisa went to his house to ask for help on book six and she said he and Lucius were friends, I like to think they not only had a past, but a continuous relation.  
> About POV, I’m going to keep changing it, but it’s going to have more of Harry soon.  
> Also about Harry. In a lot of fanfictions where Harry’s living situation with the Dursleys is found out, he usually is a traumatized kid. Now the Harry we see in book one is a sassy kid with enough gut to go and fight Draco because he is a bully and I think kid Harry is just as strong, but with a very strong Slytherin trait: he’s cunning. He makes fun of Dudley from behind his back, he thinks his sassy comments, but he doesn’t actually say them because he knows he will get in trouble. As the books goes, Harry stops doing the things he usually did do please the Dursleys and let his true personality take charge, in fact he even goes into a rebellious phase in book 5.  
> Now, in this story, Harry is five, he’s not the same kid from book one, but he has the makings of it, so he’s going to be wary of limits because he still following the Dursley’s rule, but he won’t be a traumatized boy, as he gets comfortable with the situations around him, we’re going to see more of the Harry as we know him.  
> Anyway, so far I think this is it. I hope you guys like it and see you next chapter!


	2. 4, Privet Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Sorry this is a bit late but things this week were kind of crazy, so I could update yesterday.  
> Anyway, thanks for all the follows, I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. I will also like reviews if you feel like it *puppy eye*  
> Also this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

Chapter Two: 4, Privet Drive

 

It was two days after Severus had seen Potter that hell decided to come his way in the form of the Minister of magic himself and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The duo walked inside the Great Hall accompanied by none other than Lucius Malfoy and that was enough for Severus to know something really bad was happening.

“Minister, what is the meaning of this?” Asked Professor McGonagall raising herself from her seat on the head table.

“Where is Dumbledore? I have an important matter that need to be discussed with him _immediately_ ” Said the Minister.

At that many students started whispering, breaking the silence that had started when the trio entered the room. Severus stood up from his seat and looked at Lucius with a question on his eyes, but the other man only looked back with a smirk and Severus knew for sure that his friend had done something _bad_.

“The Headmaster is probably in his office, but still I must ask you what –“ Said McGonagall before being cut by Lucius.

“This is something that only concerns him, especially considering is not exactly school related”

Seen that the other professor wasn’t going to back down, Severus decided to intervene.

“Don’t worry, Minerva, I will accompany them to the Headmaster’s office, I might have an idea what this is about”

And it was true, Severus had the sinking feeling that whatever this was, Harry Potter was the reason behind it, because it was too far a coincidence that, only two days after seen the boy, Lucius was there looking out for Dumbledore with a smirk on his face.

Minerva gave Severus one long look before accepting his leadership over the commotion and soon the trio was following the potion master to the Headmaster’s office without any words been exchanged all the way. At the door, the Minister knocked and as soon as permission was given he strode in the office.

“Cornelius, Madame Bones, Lucius” Greeted Dumbledore as the trio entered his office followed by Professor Snape “May I ask what is going on?”

“Oh, Albus, what have you done!” Said Cornelius as if talking more to himself than to the other man.

“A very… serious report have been made by Mr. Malfoy concerning Mr. Harry Potter…” Said Madame Bones after noticing the Minister was incapable of actually explaining the situation.

“You said he was alright, said he was safe, I trusted you, Albus!”

Dumbledore gave the trio long looks before finally speaking again.

“Please, Cornelius, enlighten me what exactly I’m being accused of”

“You gave Potter to the muggles, said it was his relatives and that he was safe there, well… Lucius said he saw the boy two days ago, said he looked far from _safe_ ”

“I see” Said Dumbledore after a long silence.

“You don’t seem concerned” Said Lucius with a questioning look “I am sure Severus must have told you the state we found the boy in”

“Yes, Lucius, I’ve been informed of it”

“And yet you just… let it pass?”

“I was planning on a visit as soon as the holiday was over, I thought a visit to their own house would be more accepted by Mr. Potter’s relatives”

“You were planning on only talking to them?” Said Lucius amused.

“I happen to know Mr. Potter’s aunt from previous encounters and I am sure she is someone how can be reasoned with”

“Mr. Dumbledore” Said Madame Bones very carefully “The type of mistreat Mr. Malfoy described is not something that can be simple reasoned with, if they are really committing it, they can’t stay with him”

“I see” Said Dumbledore after another long silence, but now looking like a man who just lost an internal battle “I will see what the situation on Mr. Potter’s house is and I will report back to you, Madame Bones”

“This is not on your hands anymore, Albus” Said Cornelius exasperated.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, but considering a formal report have been made about it, it is now a ministry process, I will have to evaluate his living conditions. You would be allowed as testimony, but considering you are the one who left the boy there I don’t think you can. The only reason we are here is because you needed to be informed of the report and because Mr. Potter’s address has not been available for us. But we will need your testimony about a few other things: your recent knowledge of the events, if you have made any contact with them after leaving the boy on their care and… if you knew about the less than satisfactory history between those muggles and the wizard world” Said Madame Bones very final.

“Less than satisfactory history?”

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy said it has come to his attention that Mr. Potter’s relatives have a strong… distaste for magic and it’s users and that it’s not a recent development”

Dumbledore gave Lucius a long look and the man gave him a smirk, clearly feeling victorious over the matter. Severus shifted uncomfortably on his place, _he_ had been the one to tell Lucius about Petunia’s hate for magic, he was so focused on hating the woman that he forgot the type of things Lucius Malfoy could do with such information, especially considering he also said Dumbledore knew about it. It was clear to Severus the true intentions behind Lucius report, he wasn’t concerned about the boy, the muggles could kill him for all that he knew, he actually wanted to put shame on Dumbledore, to let everyone know that he was responsible for letting _Harry Potter_ be mistreated by muggles, the boy could be living with any respectable wizard family, but instead Dumbledore had let the boy live with his relatives, people that had _history_ of hating magic and the old man _knew_ about it.

_This isn’t good_

“When do you intend on going to their house, Madame Bones?” Asked Dumbledore after another long silence.

“I was hoping to be able to get it done today, it’s only past lunch and Mr. Malfoy said they have gone back home already”

“Very well… Mr. Potter lives on Little Whinging, Surrey on 4, Privet Drive. I shall accompany you there”

“Actually, as I have previously stated, you can’t”

“I understand that I’m not acceptable as testimony, but it might started them to receive an unknown person on their house, I believe having someone they already know will easy things”

“I’m sorry, but that cannot happen. Mr. Malfoy will come as testimony, I am sure they can remember the man they met just two days ago”

“Yet I must insist”

“I’m sure Madame Bones has made herself clear” Said Lucius in a hash voice, but also very smugly.

Dumbledore looked at the trio in front of him and with a sign gave up, but just then he saw Severus and a small hope grown inside him.

“What about Severus? Mr. Potter’s aunt knows him enough and I’m sure there aren’t any restrictions concerning him”

“He can came if he wants to” Said Madame Bones still very polite.

“Very well. Can I send a little letter for Mrs. Dursley? Just so she knows she can trust you all?”

Madame Bones stood silent for a little while before giving a positive answer. Dumbledore went to his table and quickly wrote something that he put in an envelope with the school’s seal.

“Well, whatever the results of this visit are we will have to fill in the complete report at the ministry, shall we meet you there, Fudge?”  Asked Madame Bones to the minister, who seemed quite distracted.

“Yes, yes…” Answered the man coming back to reality.

“Shall I wait with you than, Cornelius?” Asked Dumbledore

“Yes, sure, it concerns you I suppose”

With that all man went to their own ways wondering what was going to happen next.

\--

Harry wasn’t feeling very well, he was really hungry and his tommy was hurting because of that. He had hoped that Aunt Petunia would give him lunch now that his Uncle wasn’t on the house, but that didn’t happened and now he had gone through an entire day without food. It wasn’t anything new, it had happened before, but it was always worst when he was starving _and_ healing, because that was the thing, healing took a lot from him, he had no idea why, but every time he had an injury to heal he always felt more hungry, his theory was that food being as good as it was probably had some kind of healing thing, so his body was actually asking him to get some, in fact he was sure that he remembered Aunt Petunia giving Dudley extra food when he had hurt himself at school.

Despise his feelings about hunger, Harry wasn’t much sure about his feelings with all that had happened at Aunt Marge’s house, in a way he had felt happy to meet people that were _like him_ but them everything went so bad after it that he was actually a bit angry that those people ever showed up on his life. First the Dursleys we all scared and made sure to lock the entire house and then they wanted to leave as soon as possible, Aunt Marge convinced them to stay the night, because going back at that time would have them driving at night and that wasn’t good. They were all very angry with him, even Aunt Marge and she didn’t even knew what happened, because Uncle Vernon refused to tell the truth and his makeup story didn’t make much sense, but still Harry got some dinner that night and an apple in the morning just before they left. The worst part was when they got back home, because then his Uncle could actually scream at him, telling him how he had attracted those dangerous people and how the family was in danger because of it. Harry got spanked and shoved into his cupboard for the rest of the day and now he was officially with 24h worth of hunger and his bum was still hurting.

Harry turned in bed thinking what he was going to do to distract himself until dinner when the bell started ringing, he didn’t know the Dursleys were expecting anyone, so he started to listen very carefully while hoping that whoever it was, it wasn’t staying for dinner. Soon he heard his Aunt telling Dudley to go and see who it was.

“Mum! Those men are here!! The one’s from Aunt Marge’s house!!”  Screamed Dudley from the front door.

Harry then heard his Aunt screaming a bit and running to the door, sending Dudley to his room and telling him to lock the door. Soon Dudley’s footsteps up the stair sounded very loud for Harry and Aunt Petunia’s voice followed sounding very steric.

“Get out of my house, I don’t know what you want with us, but you are not getting it!!”

Another woman’s voice sounded, but Harry couldn’t hear what was being said, the only voice he could hear was his Aunt and she was protesting very strongly to whatever she was hearing. He only understood a few things, something about someone called Dumbledore and about a letter, until his name came along and he got really worried, Dudley _did_ say it was the same people they saw before, so they were there because of him! Harry didn’t have any idea about what he should be feeling, a small part of him still had the hope that someone would come and take him away from the Dursleys, but another part of him, the bigger one, was worried that those people would put him in more trouble.

Soon the discussion wasn’t as loud anymore and Harry didn’t know what was going on, but then footsteps and the door closing gave him the impression that his Aunt had let them in.

“This way, we can sit down and talk” Said his Aunt very close to the cupboard’s door.

“Yes, sure, but we would like Mr. Potter to be present, I want to have a look at him” Said the calm voice of a woman that Harry presumed was the same he heard before.

“He’s not here… My husband is out, took the boy with him” Said Aunt Petunia not sounding very confident.

Harry had no idea what those people wanted with him, but he didn’t want to find out because if his Aunt were lying to them, it means he wasn’t supposed to be found. So he tried to keep himself as quiet as possible, so they wouldn’t hear him.

“Why would he do that? He didn’t sound very fond of the boy when I last saw him” Said a man’s voice that Harry knew it was quite familiar and after a while he was quite positive it belonged to the blond man from the other day.

“The boy is not here” Said Aunt Petunia trying to sound more convincing.

“Mrs. Dursley, we have tracking spells that will tell us how many people are in this house, please don’t make things more difficult. Where is he?” Said the woman’s voice

Harry didn’t know what a “Tracking spell” was, but it sounded like the woman was using it as a threat to make his Aunt tell them where he was. Those people were _bad_ , if they were making threats, there was a chance whatever they wanted with him wasn’t anything good.

“He is in his room, but it’s locked and Vernon took the key” Said his Aunt after a long silence.

“We can open the door without the key” Said the other woman and his Aunt made a small terrified noise.

“This is his room”

“This is a cupboard” Said another man’s voice that Harry hadn’t heard so far.

“It’s his room”

“He lives in a cupboard?” Asked the man with the deep voice, but his Aunt didn’t say anything.

“Why did your husband took the key?” Said the other woman but again Aunt Petunia did not answered.

“This is ridiculous, _alohomora_ ” Said the deep voice and soon the door was opening.

Harry closed his eye a bit because of the sudden light, but tried to find a different position in his bed, he didn’t want to be lying down, but he also didn’t want to sit on his bruised bum. Looking to the door he could see the two men from the other day and a woman he had never seen before, all three of them looking at him as if he was some kind of animal.

“Why don’t you came out, Harry, so we can talk?” Said the woman in a kind voice.

Harry didn’t want to get out, something was happening and he had no idea what it was, but he was scared.

“Came out boy” Said Aunt Petunia and Harry knew that now he would have to.

Trying to sit as little as possible on his bum, Harry stood up and slowly made his way out, stranding on the corridor with his Aunt right behind him.

“There, you’ve seen him, now get out” Said Aunt Petunia sounding really scared, not helping Harry at all with his own fears.

“You can be serious” Said the woman with irritation on her voice and Harry couldn’t stop himself from shaking a bit “You had the boy locked up in a cupboard and you think _we_ are going to hurt him?”

“When we took the boy, Dumbledore said the… the ones… _involved_ with my sister’s death…”

“You have a very strange way of caring, Mrs. Dursley” Said the woman with surprise.

“I don’t like the boy, doesn’t mean I want him dead”

“Well… I can guarantee you no one here is going to lay a finger on him”

“Come, I need to talk to you” Said the man with the long black hair, trying to guide Aunt Petunia to the kitchen.

“I don’t want to talk to you”

“Madame Bones, if you don’t mind?” Asked the man looking to the woman.

“No, I think you can explain to her the situation while we talk to Mr. Potter here”

Without giving Aunt Petunia much of a choice, the man grabbed her and disappeared with her thought the kitchen door.

Harry saw all of this with a bit of fear, he was very confused, first because this people just came in after him, then because his Aunt was scared of them and then suddenly he found out his Aunt actually cared about him! He always thought she would be very happy to see him dead, because he was sure Uncle Vernon would and because Dudley had said to him that he wanted him to be dead just like his parents. His Aunt didn’t.

“Ah… hello, Harry” Said the woman and Harry finally looked at the two people who stayed behind. They said they weren’t going to hurt him.

“He…Hello” Said Harry very quietly.

“This must be all very confusing to you, right?” The woman asked and Harry nodded “Well… my name is Amelia Bones, I’m here because Mr. Malfoy here was very concerned about you after seen him two days ago. You still remember him, right?”

Harry looked at the blond man, he still remembered him, the man had a strange look on his face and Harry actually felt a bit uneasy with him, he wasn’t sure if he really believed the man was concerned about him, but he wasn’t going to say anything, especially not after finding out his Aunt cared about him.

“Are you… like _that_ too?” Asked Harry not sure if he should. The other day his Uncle said the two men were like him, so maybe this woman was too? He hoped she wouldn’t be offended.

“Like _that_? What do you mean?” Said the woman a bit unsure and Harry regretted his question, she was going to be mad at him for thinking she was like him. After noticing Harry wasn’t going to answer, she insisted “Are you like _that?_ ”

Harry dropped him head and nodded, she was going to hate him.

“Why did you think I was… _like that_?”

Harry looked back at the woman, she didn’t sound mad, more like curious, but he wasn’t sure if he should answer or not.

“Uncle Vernon said the two men from the other day were _like that_ …”

The two adults shared a look and Harry started to panic, maybe his Uncle was wrong and the man wasn’t _like_ _that_ and now he would be offended that he thought he was.

“Well, then I must say I’m also like _that_ too”

Harry looked at her very surprised, _she was like him._

“I didn’t know there were others, I thought I was the only one”

“Well I can guarantee you are not, in fact there are a lot of people like us. I have a niece of your age and she’s like _that_ too” Said the woman with humor in her voice.

Harry was really impressed now, somewhere in the world there were others like him, including other children!

“Do you know what being _like that_ means?” Asked the woman.

“No, Uncle Vernon just said I am. The Dursleys don’t like me because of that”

“I see… Harry, why did your uncle left you locked up on that cupboard? Does he always do that?”

Harry looked at the woman for a bit, she sounded very nice and so far she was being quite alright and she said she was _like him_ , but he was sure that he would be in trouble if he were to answer that question, because the cupboard was one of the things he wasn’t supposed to talk about. Once a teacher at school made him talk about that and he got in big trouble, even worse than the one he was now, he didn’t wanted that again. Ever.

“Harry, I really need you to tell me about that”

“I can’t” He said very quietly.

“Did your Aunt and Uncle tell you to not talk about it”

Harry nodded.

“What about if we keep it a secret?” Harry looked up to her in surprise “You see, Harry, you are like _that_ and so am I, we protect our own, I won’t let you be in trouble for telling me the truth”

Harry looked her in the eye, she didn’t look like she was lying.

“He locked me up because he was mad at me for attracting danger to the family”

“Danger? What kind of danger?”

“He said the people we met were dangerous.... You don’t look dangerous”

The woman looked at him surprised, but then an understanding look crossed her face.

“Do you know why he took the key with him? Did he think your aunt would let you out?”

“She wouldn’t, but she would give me lunch… I think”

“They don’t give you food when they lock you up?” She asked a bit horrified, for it Harry just shocked his head ‘no’ “When was the last time you ate?”

“Yesterday, I got an apple at Aunt Marge’s house before we left”

The two adults looked at each other, the woman in completely shock.

“I told you” Said the man and Harry thought he looked a bit happy.

“Does this happen very often?”

“Only when I do something bad”

“What kind of bad things do you do?”

“I don’t know exactly, but basically I make estrange things happen”

“What kind of strange things?”

“I ended up on the roof at school when I was running away from Dudley’s gang once”

“Who’s Dudley? Why were you running from him? Why did you ended up on the roof?”

“Dudley is my cousin, he has a gang now because last summer he saw a movie about gangs, so now he has one, but to have a gang you need to have someone to punch, so that’s me. They were playing Harry Hunt, so I was trying to escape, but then when I tried to jump over a trash can I ended up on the roof. I’m small, must have been the wind. This was a very bad thing”

“I don’t think it was the wind, Harry” said the woman who looked like she wanted to laugh “But it’s very impressive for such a young age”

Harry had no idea what age had to do with anything, but he was starting to think that maybe the things he did wasn’t normal even for people _like him_.

“So… is your cousin always hitting you? Do his parents know about it?”

“I think Dudley always did that, I don’t really remember, but everyone knows about it”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, Dudley makes sure everyone knows it so I don’t get to have friends”

The woman looked at him with another surprised look, she had that sad look some of his teachers at school had when they found him all on his own.

“What about your Aunt and Uncle, do they hit you too?”

“No, but when I do something _really_ bad Uncle Vernon gives me a spanking, like the roof thing”

The two adults looked at each other again, concern on their eyes.

“Do you… do you do really bad things often?”

“No, it only happened once last year and after the Christmas break… and yesterday…” Said Harry with a quiet voice in the last part.

“Are you in pain?” Asked the woman a bit alarmed.

“Just a little bit, it won’t hurt if I don’t sit” Answered Harry still talking in a low voice.

The woman looked at him for a long time, lots of emotions passing through her face.

“What do you think about living with your Aunt and Uncle?”

“I don’t like much, but I don’t have parents, they died on an accident”

“An accident?” Asked the man looking a bit put out.

“Yes, with a car, the Dursleys don’t like to talk about them”

“They told you your parents died in a car accident?” Said the woman looking a bit like the man and Harry just nodded “And they never talk about them?”

“No and Aunt Petunia says that I can’t ask questions”

“Have you ever seen any pictures?”

“No, they don’t have any”

Again the two adults looked at each other and this time the man also looked as shocked as the woman.

“This is ridiculous! I can understand not talking about their deaths with him because he is too young, I can pretend to understand not talking about the magic, but to not talking about them at all? They can’t deny him the knowledge of his own parents” Said the woman irritated.

“I said they were unfit, but they are clearly worst then we could have predicted” Said the man with distaste, as if talking about something disgusting.

“Please don’t get mad at me, I’m sorry, don’t tell them I said that” Said Harry getting desperate, the woman was really mad, he was sure of that. He had done it, he was in trouble now.

“Oh, Harry, I’m sorry, we’re not mad at you” Said the woman trying to sound calmer then she felt “we are mad at your Aunt and Uncle, they don’t tread you well enough and don’t even talk about your parents”

Harry looked at the woman, so she wasn’t mad at him, she was mad because the Dursleys were bad with him, someone was there in front of him worried about him, being mad at others in his behalf. This made Harry really happy, so happy he almost wanted to cry.

“Please, Harry don’t be upset” the woman said in a sad voice

“No one ever got mad at someone for me, thank you”

The woman gave him a funny look and then more emotions passed on her face and Harry was under the impression that she wanted to cry too.

“Harry, how would you feel about leaving this house?”

“Forever? But where would I go?”

“I don’t know, someplace with people _like us_ where you will have someone taking proper care of you or getting mad for you, would you like that?”

“Yes!!” Said Harry really happy, his dream was somehow turning into reality, someone was here to rescue him, he would leave this place to live with people like him!

“Madame Bones?” Said the man looking at the woman.

“Seems like Mr. Potter won’t be living with his relatives any longer” Said the woman and Harry couldn’t resist the biggest smile of his life.

\--

“Let me go, Snape” Said Petunia as soon as she reached the kitchen.

Snape let go of her arm and turned back to the door and with a whisper locked it, he was turning back to the woman in front of him when another idea passed his mind and he put a _silencio_ charm on the room, he knew the conversation that would follow was going to be very privet and dangerous if overheard.

“Listen, I like this situation as much as you do, but now it’s not time for –“

“Last time I talked with Lily you had turned to the other side” Interrupted Petunia “How can I believe his letter? You are… you could have faked it”

Severus was mad at the woman, he really didn’t want to have this conversation with her, but Potter was in danger and he had promised to protect him.

“Things… changed, I went back, I’m a teacher at Hogwarts, I can guarantee this is from Dumbledore”

“Guarantee with what? Your word? This letter tells me to trust you!”

“Then you should do that! Use your brain, Petunia, the blood protection wouldn’t have let us get inside the house if we wanted to hurt the boy” Said Snape starting to lose his patience.

“You know about that” Said Petunia starting to calm down.

“Yes, Dumbledore told me all about it, I’m with him in protecting the boy”

“Why?”

“It’s none of you concern”

“So you really turned? Lily told me how you went for power… did her death affect your conscience?” Asked Petunia with a bit of malice on her voice.

Snape went very silent, he never thought about Lily and Petunia discussing him and it hurt to image the kind of things she might have said.

“So that’s why then…” Said Petunia seen her answer on his silence.

“It doesn’t matter, we have other things to worry about”

“Who are this people, why are they suddenly so interested on the boy?”

“The man is Lucius Malfoy and the woman is Madam Amelia Bones, she is the head of law enforcement and it’s here because Lucius made a report against you”

“What?” Said Petunia feeling her blood run cold.

“You and that thing you call a husband had to do the stupid thing didn’t you?”

“How dare-“

“Well you did! I can believe you had the boy locked up on a cupboard!” Said Snape furiously. He wasn’t the boy’s biggest fan, but seen a child being mistreated always hit home.

“The boy is save, that’s all that matter, we give him a place to stay and food to eat, you all should be thankful for what we’ve done” Said Petunia starting to raise her voice.

“Well not everyone thinks like this, that boy is a symbol, everyone on the wizard world- “

“Don’t say these things in my house!”

“Will be expecting him to be living like a king, not a house elf!”

“We don’t have the money-“

“Oh please, don’t underestimate my intelligence, Petunia, I saw your son, if you can give enough food to turn a child into a whale, I’m sure the other doesn’t need to starve”

“Don’t you dare call my son a whale!”

“You left Potter in a pitiful state, I don’t know how you’ve been fooling the muggles, but Lucius and I only needed one look to tell he wasn’t well” Said Severus ignoring her comment about her son.

“So you decided to report us?”

“I haven’t done anything, I know the risk of taking him out of here”

“Then-“

“Lucius, on the other hand, doesn’t know anything, he was a Death Eater and even if now hurting Potter is not what he is after, telling the wizard world that Dumbledore left the “Boy who lived” with muggles that have been mistreating him is perfect for him. He doesn’t care if Potter is living in a bad house, he would be happy if you ended up killing him somehow-“

“I wouldn’t-“

“But it’s a possibility, that’s what Madam Bones will see, she will declare this place unfit for the boy and soon every wizard will know about it, putting shame on Dumbledore, it will be a glorious day for Lucius”

“Can’t we tell her about the wards?”

“With Lucius here? Don’t be stupid!”

“You can talk to her on privet”

“He made a report, he is right here and has proof that this place is unfit, telling one person won’t make a difference”

Silence finally took the two of them, it was clear that they had a complex situation at hand.

“We can move him to the room upstairs, give him regular meals” Said Petunia tentatively.

“Too late, if you cared so much you should have done it all sooner”

And it was true, deep down Petunia knew she had screwed up, she just didn’t wanted to admit it.

“I never wanted the boy, I didn’t wanted his abnormally in my house or the dangers that could bring us…” Said Petunia in a small voice

“Them why take him in?” Asked Snape with a calm voice and, for the first time since the two had met, they were talking about feelings.

“I had just lost my sister, again I must say, I didn’t want her son’s death to fall on me, not when he was the reason she died”

“Again?”

“I lost her when you told her she was a… witch. She went to a new world, a world I wasn’t part of, back there I felt I had just lost her”

Snape kept himself quiet, he didn’t want to bring back an old fight telling her that it didn’t have to be like that, that she only lost her sister because she was too jealous, because she wanted to go to Hogwarts and couldn’t. No, he wasn’t going to bring back that part of the past.

“Is that why you’re here, Snape? Because of Lily?”

Snape didn’t say anything, he looked at the woman in front of him and felt his blood running cold inside him, because there it was a woman who knew him, there it was a knowing look, not like the ones Dumbledore would give him, but one of someone who actually _knew_.

“I used to hear about how bad Potter treated you at school, I dumb you would be the kind to worry about a child, I can just imagine your feelings for _his_ son”

“You know how my parents treated me, I wouldn’t want that to any child” Said Snape trying to sound convincing, he wasn’t so sure about that, he had seen children at Hogwarts with the signs of abuse and thought simply that life wasn’t fair.

“Maybe, but he is the son of the man that, as far as I can tell, you hatted, the son he had with the woman you loved”

Snape looked up to her, trying with all his being to hide how scared he was.

“I always knew, Lily had her head always so far away, so… _enchanted_ to all the possibilities that magic could give her… she couldn’t see it, but I always did, all of those… _longing looks_ you would give her…” Said Petunia with defeat but also a bit accusingly.

Petunia looked into Snape’s eyes, some understanding coming between them, the reasons why Snape would turn back to Dumbledore, the reason why Petunia would accuse him… they both wanted Lily and they both found someone to accuse of being the reason she was gone, the reason they lost her… In such a bad moment they found what they had in common, because neither of them liked the boy, but they found inside them the reason to protect him.

\--

When the four adults were back together there wasn’t much that could be said in favor of the Dursleys, it was clear that even the boy didn’t want to stay, so all Madame Bones did was tell Aunt Petunia about the legal part that would take place. The report against the Dursleys would  run in the Ministry, but not in muggle law, so they would lose custody of Harry but not Dudley, despise it all, they weren’t _exactly_ bad parents to their own son, even if spoiling a child like they did wasn’t good. Petunia would also had to sign the papers to transfer the custody she had to some other wizard and maybe attend a hearing, but all would be notified later.

“Harry, do you have anything you want to take with you? You don’t need to bother with clothes” Said Madame Bones, there was no need for him to keep his cousin’s hand-me-down, but he could have something he actually liked.

“Not really” Said Harry.

And that was it, Harry was going to be taken away, first to some foster and them to a family who would actually take care of him.

“Them we are going, Minister Fudge and Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for news. Mrs. Dursley, if I can say anything in this situation is that you should try to make it right at least with your own son, we’re allowing you to keep him, so don’t let your husband tell you what to do” Said Madame Bones as she said farewell to the other woman.

Petunia didn’t say anything to what the other woman implied, she looked a bit upset when Harry said goodbye, but remained silent until they were all out of her house. Snape gave her a long look before leaving the house, he didn’t say goodbye, the things between the two hadn’t exactly changed, but there was understanding and he wanted the woman to know that he would at least make sure Potter wasn’t killed.

“What should we do to take him to the Ministry?” Asked Madame Bones as soon as the trio was on the street.

“What is the problem with apparating?” Asked Snape not understanding the woman’s worry.

“He doesn’t know anything about magic and he’s very small and the first time is always bad”

Snape found himself surprised even if it should be expected, in the conversation they had with Petunia it was mentioned the boy knew nothing about his parents, but Severus had yet to make the connection between that and the boy not knowing about magic.

“Why don’t we put him to sleep, it will be easier for him to go through all of what is left if he’s out. We still have to discuss about his foster and arrangement for future placement, I think for now he should just sleep until we can at least tell him properly what will happen and explain about all that has been hidden from him” Said Lucius.

Soon the trio agreed that putting Harry to sleep would be the simple thing to do and, ignoring the confused look on the child’s face, a sleeping spell was cast over him and they all disappareted to the Ministry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter:  
> In the first part I tried to make the interactions between Dumbledore and Cornelius as we see on the books, not sure if I succeed, but it’s a try. Madame Bones is what I really created from scratch, I wanted her to be neutral in a way, because even if she’s on Dumbledore’s side a lot more than Fudge or even Lucius, she’s still a strong person to lead the wizard word, because let’s be sincere, Fudge is a bad Minister and I’m sure she, as the head of law enforcement, ended up with more power than Fudge. So yes, she can say no to Dumbledore, but in the future will also listen to his words.  
> We’re going to see a lot more of her in the future, I hope I can make her a good character, since we see so little of her in the books.  
> About Harry, I think we all need to keep it in mind that he’s five and even if he’s mature on some things (and you haven’t seen much of that yet), he’s still allowed to be a child about some things. In the books, he’s eleven and very much sure about his relationship with the Dursleys, he knows now he doesn’t have any relative coming to the rescue and he knows they are the abnormals. In fact, that’s why he doesn’t hate muggles, he knows not all of them are like the Dursleys. But here he’s still five and he still want someone to take him away, so he’s still emotional with finding people like him and being able to open up and having they care about him.  
> In fact, if I’m not mistaken, he does get a bit emotional the first time Molly treads him nicely and as one her own. (I might be mistaken because I ready a lot of fanfic and sometimes the canon gets mixed up).  
> Now, about Petunia, she’s an interesting character and I thought a lot about the way she really felt to be able to write this. In the last book, there’s a moment where Harry gets the impression she’s going to talk to him, but then she doesn’t. I think she didn’t know how, because Dudley apologized, but she did a lot worst and it had been so long. But I do think she loved her sister and part of her resentment with magic was the fact that it made them so different. I think, on her own way, she cared about Harry, not enough to actually take care of him, but enough to not want him dead, because she already lost her sister and no matter how much she pretended, it did affect her.  
> Vernon don’t really like Harry because he doesn’t like magic and because he doesn’t like the fact he has to spend money on the boy, but it’s not like he completely hates the boy, I actually believe his kind of neutral, he hates magic so much, he ends up hating Harry with it, but different from a lot of fanfics were he’s a brutal horrible man, I wanted him to be like I think he was in canon and I think that alone would be enough. I don’t think he ever discounted his frustration on Harry or hit him so hard and that kind of stuff we see in fics all the time, but I think he wouldn’t feel bad about a spanking, he sounds like that kind of person, because on the books he thought St Brutus was a good place to correct children, so if he thinks a good punishment here and there was good, I think he would be the type to defend a good spanking to children misbehaviors and in his view, doing magic was just that. I really don’t think things went much further than this, not only because the Dursleys care about reputation, but because I don’t think Harry would be the same boy we see in book one if he was that type of abused.  
> Now, a little about Snape (‘cause we’re going to see a lot of him in the future) He was around Lily for a long time, I think Petunia would have noticed things, but not said anything on propose, since she didn’t like Snape anyway. Now, in the memories we see on the last book, Snape wasn’t at all ashamed to say he still loved Lily, because Dumbledore already knew, so I think he would have a problem talking to Petunia if she knew, even if part of him was mad that she was the one to know. But then again, it was a special situation, I think he was more concerned with the fact the child he was supposed to protect was in a cupboard than the fact he was having a heart to heart with Petunia.  
> In a way, I think Snape is the one who’s traumatized, a lot more than Harry, but not so many people write about this. I mean, he wanted power because he felt he needed to be more, also, he used to call himself the half-blood prince, because he valued more his mother side. I think his father was an arse and he hated him and the fact he had his blood. Seeing Harry in that kind of situation trigged something in him, because it was the kind of thing he lived and because Harry was a piece of Lily and he never wanted her to suffer something like that.  
> So yeah, so far Snape is still not seeing James in Harry, and that will last for a while, but soon we shall see what will happen when he get his shit together.  
> This is it for now! See ya next chapter!


	3. A place to call home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Sorry this is late (a LOT more late than I expected) but I just moved and things were all over the place for me, since I moved on the weekend and then organizing thing this past week… I really apologize for it.  
> Anyway, thanks again for all the follows, favorites and REVIEWS! I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. Please keep sending me feedback!  
> Also, someone sent me a review talking about how Petunia hit Harry with a pan once. Yeah, I forgot about it, the books are always a bit confusing about how the Dursley's really treated Harry, that’s why some people even write fics where they were super abusive. Well… I’m still keeping my impressions from last chapter that they weren’t that bad to him as my guideline for this story, it’s a fictional works anyway :)  
> I would like to give a special thanks to my AO3 reader Britrbrashear who kindly offered to be my beta! Thank you, really, you’re awesome. Still, keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

Chapter three: A place to call home

Dumbledore was feeling slightly annoyed. Minister Fudge was still going on and on about how all of this should have never happened, how the press was going to react to it and how the wizard world had finally settled down after the war, and the Headmaster just couldn’t take it anymore. It had been a few hours since Madame Bones had left, and he was more interested in what was found on the Dursley’s house than what repercussion it would have if worst came to worst. Dumbledore knew that things wouldn’t be good. Despite how much he wanted to believe the best about people, he couldn’t kid himself that Petunia was going to be a mother to Harry. But she had accepted the boy and she also had a child of her own, so things couldn’t be that bad. Or so he hoped.

When the door opened and the trio stepped in the Minister office with little Harry in Severus arms it was clear that Dumbledore had again been too hopeful.

“It’s him!” Said the Minister getting close to Professor Snape to have a better look.

“Yes, it’s him, but we thought better to put him to sleep for now,” said Madame Bones as she looked around for the best place to put the sleeping child.

“Why would that be best, Madame Bones?” Asked Dumbledore not understanding the woman.

“Mr. Potter does not know about his own magic as his relatives have been hiding it. We thought best to let him sleep until we decide his initial placement. Once he is in a more stable environment, we can explain everything to him,” answered the woman. “Mr. Snape, I think you can put him on that couch.”

“What do you mean he doesn’t know about his magic?” asked the Minister, ignoring the professor as he moved to the couch, looking to the woman instead.

“His relatives never said a word about it. Mrs. Dursley was frightened by the very word 'magic'. The boy knows he is different, but he doesn’t know what makes him different. He also talked about accidental magic episodes, but since he doesn’t understand it, he’s been trying to find a muggle explanation for it. Nothing too bad, it’s a bit like muggle-borns actually.”

“But this is Harry Potter!” Said the Minister and Dumbledore felt all his annoyance coming back in full force.

“The important part is that you brought him here, which I suppose is because you found him in less than acceptable conditions.” said Dumbledore prying for more information.

“That’s an understatement,” said Lucius in a low and mocking voice.

“Yes, the conditions were really bad. We found him locked up in a cupboard,” said Madame Bones, ignoring Lucius comment.

“What?!” cried the Minister.

“A… _cupboard_?” said Dumbledore not believing his ears. Things were worse then he could have predicted.

“Yes.”

“I thought they were supposed to be his relatives! What kind of people put a child in a cupboard?” said the Minister, exasperated.

“Well, in their defense, Mrs. Dursley seemed to care a bit about the boy. She was scared that we were going to hurt him, later telling us that Professor Dumbledore had alerted her about the Death Eaters, and she seemed worried. But it also seemed to me that she was living with a rather abusive husband, and he was especially abusive with Mr. Potter.” said Madame Bones very carefully.

Dumbledore felt a bit of alarm upon hearing that Lily’s sister could be living with an abusive husband. He had no idea what kind of man she had married, but that wasn’t something he hadn't expected. Looking with the corner of his eyes, Dumbledore saw Severus, disdain written all over his face. It was clear that the man did not believe Petunia was in any kind of abusive relationship, and the Headmaster was a lot more inclined to believe in the other man’s judgment. He knew from his own silly hopes that people would see what they wanted to see. It seemed more likely that Madame Bones simply didn’t want to believe that someone would hurt their own blood.

“Oh well, poor woman… But now, what shall we do with Mr. Potter?” asked the Minister, dismissing the concern over Mrs. Dursley marriage.

“He’s going to need some kind of foster until a more permanent arrangement can be made. I’m sure his parents might have left someone else appointed as potential guardian”

“That will be a problem, if I’m not mistaken Black is his appointed guardian and we all know the man is in Askaban, said the Minister walking down to his chair.

“What about his Godmother?” asked Severus trying to not show his feeling over the mention of Black.

“Godmother? What are you talking about?” said the Minister as if Severus was a mad man.

“It’s a muggle custom,” said Severus realizing that not all wizards knew about godmothers. “They normally give a child a couple of Godparents or a Godmother. There are a few child stories about magical Godmothers that make them be more special for them than a Godfather. Potter’s mother was a muggle-born, I’m sure she must have given the boy one.”

“Well, if he really has one, it will be in the Potter’s will. I believe it was never read since, Mrs. Potter's sister clearly never went after it. I’m sure we can ask for a special hearing,” said Madame Bones.

“The goblins won’t talk about their clients’ finances with us” Said Severus.

“No, they won’t, but we can ask that they talk about only that which concerns Mr. Potter’s guardianship.”

“Shouldn’t we also have another plan?” said Lucius very calm “After all if no one claimed Mr. Potter in all these years, maybe there’s no one… _left_ to take care of him.”

“Let’s wait for the hearing before we make any assumptions, Mr. Malfoy.” said Madame Bones.

Severus and Dumbledore exchanged looks. It was clear that Lucius was using the opportunity to make another move and that one was not an acceptable one.

“So, we wait for the hearing, fine. But what do we do with the boy _now?_ ” said the Minister, eyeing the sleeping boy in his couch.

“I could take him, the Manor has plenty of rooms, and my son is the same age. I’m sure they will both enjoy each others company.” said Lucius courteously.

Again the two teachers looked at each other. Lucius wouldn’t do anything bad to the boy _now_ , but allowing him to take Harry could prove itself bad on the long run; the ex-Death Eater had his own agenda.

“Actually, I was thinking about taking him.” said Severus feeling regret as soon as the words left his mouth.

“You, Professor?” asked Madame Bones very surprised.

“Yes. Mr. Potter will need some place quiet to adjust. He will be lost enough from moving out of his relatives house without a final destination, and then he will have to come to terms with his magic. I think being on his own for a bit will do him good. Another child would give him more to worry about. Also, he will need medical attention. A check up is definitely in order, and I’m sure he will need a lot of nutritional potions. I’m almost positive he has anemia”

“And you think taking him to Hogwarts will be more quiet?” Said Lucius with disbelief.

“Obviously not, I intended to take him to my house. There’s still a few more days before the end of the Holidays.”

Silence fell upon the group for a while.

“It sounds very reasonable” said Madame Bones a bit hesitant.

“I also went to school with the Potter's. The knowledge that he is with someone who knew his parents might ease the boy’s mind.” said Severus hoping that this last argument would win them over.

“Indeed,” said the woman and Severus knew he had won. He just had yet to decide what he thought of that.

\--

Harry woke up a bit disorientated. He had no idea where he was, but it was a very strange place. He was on a black couch in a room full of books. He noticed his vision was a bit blurry and looked around for his glasses. They weren’t anywhere in sight, and Harry was starting to feel really scared. The room he was in was too dark for his liking and it was all too creepy.

“Good, you are awake,” said a voice from behind him.

Coming down the stairs was the dark haired man from the rescue party. This thought made Harry remember all that had happened. He was no longer living with the Dursley's, people _like hi_ _m_ came and took him away.

“Do you remember what happened?” asked the man as he came closer to the couch.

“Yes, you and the blond man and the nice woman took me away from the Dursley's,” said Harry in a quiet voice. “Sorry, sir, but where am I?”

“You’re at my house. Unfortunately, I do not live here most of the year, so it's not in its best condition.”

Harry looked around once again and agreed with the man. The place looked a bit horrible.

“Uhmm… What’s your name?” asked Harry curious.

“My name is Severus Snape. I will look after you until we can find a family to take you.”

Harry stared at the man for a while. He sounded a bit irritated about being responsible for him, something that made him think about his Aunt Petunia, and that wasn’t very nice considering he left the Dursley's to live somewhere better, with better people. Yet, he was with people _like him_ , so this man was probably _like h_ _im,_ too. He was part of the rescue party, so maybe he wasn’t that bad.

“Are you…” tried Harry. He wasn’t sure if the man would be irritated if he asked him about being like _that._ “The nice woman… she…… she said she was… _like me_ …”

Harry saw the man look at him for a little while, and Harry was afraid that perhaps he really should have stayed quiet.

“Madame Bones told me you don’t know what you are, only that you are different,” said the man, and Harry nodded, hoping that maybe the man would tell him what was so wrong about him. Maybe it was something he could fix so he wouldn’t be a freak anymore. “You have magic, you are a wizard.”

Harry stared the man in disbelief. He didn’t look like he was joking. He didn’t even look like he _could_ make this kind of joke, but being a _wizard_?

“But that’s impossible, sir. Magic is not real,” said Harry, very confused.

“Why do you think magic is not real?” said the man sounding curious.

Harry stopped to think about it. Why was he so sure that magic wasn’t real? As far as he knew, there were a lot of things in the world that he had no idea about. Lots of books he read at school talked about magic and fairies and all kinds of magical creatures, but his teachers said it was all fiction and…

“Uncle Vernon said magic is not real. He really hates anything related to it. He doesn’t like when Dudley watches movies about magic because it’s all fiction, so there’s no point in it,” said Harry, sounding as if he was trying to repeat the exact same words that had been said to him so many times before.

“Well, he was lying. Think about it, Potter. Why would he hate something so much if that something wasn’t real?” said Severus, trying to make the boy think a bit.

Harry did as he was told and realized that, indeed, there was no reason to hate something that wasn’t real, at least not like his Uncle hated magic. In fact his, Aunt didn’t like it either. It was the reason he only ever read books about magic at the school. He wasn’t allowed to bring those kinds of books home from the school library.

“Is that why they hate me too? Because they hate magic, and I have it?” asked Harry, finally realizing all that was wrong with his Aunt and Uncle.

“Yes.”

“How come I have magic? Where did it come from? And the strange things that happen around me, is that magic?”

Severus took a moment to stare at the boy in front of him, realizing that discovering the truth about himself made Potter forget his shyness, and he wasn’t prepared to deal with a talkative boy.

“Came down,” said Severus, but instead of making Harry go back to his shyness he made the boy scared of him “I will tell you everything, but you have to slow down,” he tried again and Harry relaxed.

“Sorry, sir,” said Harry quietly.

“It’s alright. Yes, the things that your relatives said were strange happenings was your magic reacting around you. It happens with children because they don't know how to properly use and control their magic.” Severus stopped for a moment and saw Harry quietly paying attention to him, absorbing the information. “Magic normally shows itself in children with magical parents, although it’s not a rule. There are children with non-magical parents that still have the gift”

“Did my parents…?” asked Harry, still very shy.

“Yes, both your parents had magic. In fact, we went to the same magic school.”

“You knew them?” said Harry getting excited again, but soon remembering the man did not liked it, so he retreated back.

“Yes, I knew your parents, but we shall talk about them later.”

Harry was disappointed, but at least the man said _later_ , not _never_ like his Aunt did.

“Now that we are clear about magic I need to talk to you about your health.” said the man and Harry looked at him puzzled.

“My health?”

“Yes. Your relatives poor treatment of you has left you with poor health. You are too small and too thin for your age. I believe that’s mostly because you didn’t eat well while you were with them,” said Severus stopping a bit to give Harry time to think about it.

Harry looked from the man to himself. He knew he was too small, as Dudley’s friends always teased him for it, but he had no idea that it was because he didn’t have enough food. He thought the lack of food led to the thin part, but hadn't realized it could affect his height. He also had no idea how bad that was. The man made it sound like he was sick for being so small.

“Do you understand what I am saying?” said Severus, after watching Harry think for a while.

“I think so. I’m sick because I don’t eat, and you know it because I’m too small”

“Something like that. I was also told your Uncle gave you a spanking and your cousin hits you a lot.” Harry nodded shyly. “Are you in pain right now?”

“No sir, just a bit of… discomfort,” said Harry and it was true, his bum didn’t feel as bad anymore. Sleep always helped.

“Right… I also believe you're hungry?” said Severus, knowing the boy was so long without food that he probably forgot about it.

At that moment, Harry realized he was hungry. He felt the pain in his belly come back with full force. He had no idea what time it was, but he had gone far too long without food.

“I arranged for food to be delivered. You will eat and then a healer will come over to examine you so we’ll know all the medicine you will need to get better. Do you understand everything I said?”

“Yes, sir”

Harry understood, he really did. He just had no idea how to react to it all. It was too much information, too many changes all at once, and he was feeling very drained.

“Tomorrow we shall go get you some clothes and a new pair of glasses. The ones you have are not fit.”

Harry looked at the man in front of him as if he was the strangest thing on earth.

“Clothes? I’m gonna have my own clothes?” asked Harry, not believing he was even saying that. He had never had something that was only his.

Severus looked at the boy in front of him, completely lost. He had expected the boy to be a spoiled prat like his father before him. Instead the boy right in front of him was starved, hurt and excited over some clothes. He looked into the boy’s eyes and something within him felt strange. That look was somehow familiar and he wanted to boy to look anything _but_ familiar.

Before anything else could have been said on the matter, a loud pop was heard and a house elf was standing in the middle of the room.

“Mister Snape, Master Dumbledore asked Tipsy to come and serve you, sir. Also, should Tipsy bring the dinner now?” asked the little elf.

Harry looked at the creature with wide eyes. Not only magic was real, but there was a _real_ magical creature right there. A creature that had just arrived out of thin air. A creature that could _talk_.

“Yes, you can bring it,” said Severus and the creature disappeared right after.

“What was that?” asked Harry, still surprised.

“It’s a house elf. They works for wizards, cleaning places or making food. This one was lent to me for the time being.”

Harry looked back to the place the elf had been moments before. It was very strange to imagine all the creatures that were related to magic. It all looked and sounded like some fantasy book. With another pop, the elf reappeared with two bowls of soup.

“Where should I put it, sir?” asked the elf.

Harry looked as Severus took a wooden stick from his vests and made a movement toward a small table not far from the couch. The table moved and changed size, coming closer so Harry could easily eat while still sitting there. It was the first magic the man had performed, and it was incredible.

“Here,” said Severus pointing to the table and making a chair stop right next to it.

“Anything else you want Tipsy to do, sir?”

“Yes. Clean two of the bedrooms upstairs and prepare them for us, then clean all the bathrooms and the kitchen," said Severus as he sat down on the chair.

With a long bow the elf disappeared again, leaving the two alone. Harry was still looking at the place the elf once was when Severus called his attention back.

"You must eat all your soup. It will be good for you, but do it slowly. It's been too long since you last ate and we don't want to upset your stomach"

Harry nodded and looked at his soup. He never had soup before because Uncle Vernon and Dudley thought it was disgusting, so his Aunt never made it. But the school nurse once said it was good food for when you're sick, so maybe it would be okay to eat. He could make a special effort. Harry tried one spoon and his eyes went wide. It was delicious! It was hot and it burned his tongue a bit, but it wasn't disgusting at all! It was delicious and he never tasted anything like it.

"Why are you making noises?" said Severus, annoyed.

"Sorry, sir, I never had soup before, and it's really good!" said Harry hoping the man wasn't about to get mad at him.

Severus looked at the boy as if seeing something alien. Every time he thought the boy couldn't surprise him anymore, something new would show up. He didn't say anything, and the two ate in silence, Harry following the instruction to eat slowly. When they were finished, Severus called Tipsy.

"Take the bowls away. Tell Poppy she can come by, and that I'll be waiting by the fireplace."

Soon the elf was gone and Severus put the table and the chair away before turning back to Harry.

"I will go to the other room to wait the healer who will examine you. Don't move from here and do not touch anything."

Harry nodded, a bit afraid of the man, but soon he was alone in the room and he thought that perhaps there was no need to be scared. Maybe the man was always like that. He wasn't about to explode with him, just always seemed to be annoyed. But now, with his belly full and some time alone, Harry decided to think about his situation. He wasn’t living with the Dursley's anymore because _wizards_ came and rescued him. He also found out that magic was real and that the reason why the Dursley's never liked him much was because _he_ was a wizard. The idea that he was magical was very strange, because ever since he could remember, he was this _freak. S_ pecial, but never in a good way. But now, he wasn’t so sure. Being magical should always be something amazing, not something bad. Harry tried very hard to understand why he was bad in his relative’s eyes, but nothing came to mind so he just gave up for the time being. His next step was to think about the future, because he had no idea where he was going or who was going to take care of him. The only thing he had so far was a man that always sounded like he was mad who had actually known his parents. Harry really hoped the man would tell him about his parents. Maybe he would even have a picture or something. But Harry still wasn’t sure how he felt about the man, so he just had to keep going until he figured it out.

_I’m homeless._

That sudden thought and realization made Harry’s blood run cold and made something inside of him feel exposed. It was as if all of the sudden he was in the middle of a street, and in a way he was, because now he was a boy without a home. No matter how bad the Dursley's were, they had always been home. But he wasn’t going back to them, so they no longer were home, but this place wasn’t home either. Then there was a chance he wasn’t going to find another home, because there was a chance no one would want him. He knew now that he was different because he was a wizard, but that didn’t exactly mean he wasn’t a freak anymore. He was so excited about all the changes that he hadn't even stopped to think that maybe even people _like him_ wouldn’t want him. Something around him felt like it was falling apart, but he had no idea what it was. He only knew it felt bad. _He didn_ _’t want to be homeless_.

_“I don’t like the boy, doesn’t mean I want him dead.”_

Aunt Petunia’s words came back to him, and they felt quite comforting, because in a way that was a reminder that maybe he wasn’t hopeless as well as homeless. Maybe if he found out wizards didn’t want him either, he could just hide his magic and try going back to his cupboard. Maybe if he didn’t have the magic, his Aunt and Uncle wouldn’t be as bad anymore and his Aunt would let him back. After all, he was the one who said he wanted to leave, not his Aunt. She wanted him _alive_. The knowledge that he still had something made the bad feeling go away and he felt a lot calmer. He didn’t feel like he was on the street anymore. He felt like things were finally alright and with that he was ready for anything.

\--

Severus was waiting by the window. Spinner’s End was no longer what it once was. All the factories around the place were now closed, and the neighborhood soon became an abandoned place. Sure this place was never as good as the upper streets, but now even they were all but abandoned. For a moment Severus wondered what happened with Lily’s old house. He knew some people still lived there, a great lot of filth, but they were there, even if most of them were moving out. He was sure in a few years everything would be abandoned.

_This is no place for children_.

And here was another reason why taking the boy was a bad idea. Madame Bones obviously had no idea where he lived and luckily she wouldn’t be planning on a visit to find out. He was lucky enough Lucius hadn’t commented on it, as he was the only one who knew the state the place and the surrounding area were in. Severus was sure even Dumbledore didn’t know. This was the reason he always went to Malfoy Manor to see Draco. His house was no place to have a small child _._ _But now, he had one sitting all alone in the other room._

Severus had no idea how he felt about having Potter in his care. His conversation with Petunia had left him shaken, and then the boy was nothing like he was expecting. He had been polite the whole time, and acted like a scared little creature. In fact, he kind of reminded Severus of himself. And he _hated_ it. The last thing Severus wanted was to see any kind of similarities between himself and Potter’s child. He already had to reveal he knew the boy’s parents, he didn’t want any more connections to the child. Almost five years had passed since Lily’s death, but the words he said to Dumbledore were still true. He could not bear to have Potter’s son knowing about him. In fact, despite how childish it was, the only thing he wanted was to be able to hate the child in peace and make sure that James Potter, wherever he was, would see his child paying for all the wrongs he did.

The fireplace burst with green flames and took Severus from his thoughts, something he was very grateful for.

“Good evening, Severus,” said Madame Pomfrey as she got out of the fireplace.

“Good evening, Poppy,” replied the man politely.

“So… how is he?” Asked the woman looking concerned, but also curious.

“He is doing better than expected. He took all the information quite well, and has been trying to apply logic to most of it, which I’m sure helps him to understand that everything has changed. I haven’t tried to make any diagnoses on his health beside my previous belief that he is anemic.”

“I see… well, let’s move on and check up on him.”

With a nod, Severus guided Madame Pomfrey to the other room where they found Harry deep in his thoughts.

“Hello, Mr. Potter” said Madame Pomfrey getting the child’s attention.

“Ah… Hello,” answered the boy, a bit shy.

“I’m Poppy Pomfrey. I’m here to examine you and see how your health is. Is that alright with you?” asked Madame Pomfrey, speaking in a kind, gentle way.

Harry looked at the woman and she gave him a reassuring smile.

“What do I have to do?”

“I need you to take your… clothes… off,” she said, a bit uncertain after taking in the rags the boy was wearing.

“My clothes?”

“You can keep your pants on”

The two adults looked with a bit of amusement as the boy got really shy and took his time in taking his clothes off, as if debating against what he was doing. But all the humor in the situation disappeared as they fully looked at the boy. He was even more thin than they had first thought. His skin was really pale and he had five yellow marks in his left arm that were definitely from fingers.

“Who did this to your arm?” asked Madame Pomfrey, quite shocked.

“Uncle Vernon. He grabbed me and it bruised. I bruise easy,” said the boy, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The two adults looked at each other, horror and disgust expressed in their faces.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Severus and he went behind the boy and without warning he grabbed Harry’s pants, putting it down enough for him to look at his bum. He only had seconds before the boy got scared and ran from him, but it was enough for Severus to see the fading mark from the spanking.

“Severus?” asked Madame Pomfrey, not fully understanding the man’s actions.

“His Uncle gave him a spanking,” said Severus and the woman soon understood.

Harry, on the other hand, was still very confused and looking at the two adults with distrust.

“It’s alright, Mr. Potter, Severus here only wanted to know if you had marks from the spanking. He won’t touch you again if you don’t want it” said Madame Pomfrey, trying to sound as calm and loving as possible.

Harry once again looked at the two with distrust, but after hugging himself for a while he nodded.

“Ok, now I will point my wand at you and I will perform some spells that will tell me how you’re doing. It won’t hurt you, but you might feel something. A kind of tingling, but its nothing to worry about, okay?”

Madame Pomfrey waited until Harry nodded again to start the spells. They went all around him, making him feel funny. Symbols and colors appeared, hovering above different parts of his body, and made no sense to Harry, but made the Healer quite upset.

“So?” asked Severus once all the spells were done.

“Well, you were right about anemia. It’s not too strong, but it’s there. He's also very low in vitamin D, which means he needs more sun. He is a bit low in vitamins in general, I would suggest giving him more fruits… and maybe milk or cheese. He definitely doesn’t have a good diet. It’s nothing alarming, but now that he’s here, I think giving him better meals will be good for him. He also has a bit of myopia, so he’s going to need glasses to prevent headaches. He’s still young so it’s not so bad now, but I’m pretty sure he already has some blurry spots.”

“He was using glasses when he got here, but they were unfit and with a crack. I will take him to purchase another pair tomorrow. Should I give him nutrition potions or will changing his diet do?”

“He is very young, so you shouldn't stuff him with potions. A balanced diet will do, but we need to keep an eye on the anemia. It might just be because of his eating habits, but it could be that he had problems absorbing iron.”

The two adults went silent for a bit, thinking about how wrong it was for a child to be in that condition and the best way to go from there.

“Ah… Does this mean… that I…… don’t need medicine?” asked Harry quietly and unsure. Madame Pomfrey looked at the boy with a soft smile, he was a quiet boy, but very attentive.

“No, you won’t need any medicine, Harry,” said the woman softly.

“But… he told me I was sick…” said Harry confused.

“Yes, you are a bit sick, but not strongly enough that you need medicine. Your relatives may have neglected you, but not as bad as we first thought. As long as you start living a normal life now, you will be alright in no time.”

Harry looked at the woman for a while thinking really hard at something, but whatever it was he did not say. A small smile slowly appeared, and then he nodded to the healer in understanding.

“Well, I’ll be going. It's late, so I suggest you put your clothes back on and go to sleep so you can go shopping tomorrow.” The healer gave Harry a smile and extended her hand. “It was a pleasure, Mr. Potter, and I hope to see you again in better circumstances.”

Harry hesitated for a moment before shaking the hand in front of him.

“I will guide you out. Potter, wait here,” said Snape before walking away with the healer.

“Before I go, Albus asked me to give you this,” said Madame Pomfrey as they reached the other room.

Severus looked at the small bag the woman was offering him with a small frown.

“Where is this money from? What about the key to the Potter’s vault?”

“I don’t know where he got the money, but I suspect this is from Albus. He said the goblins could deny you entrance to the vault because you’re not Mr. Potter legal guardian and he's not Hogwarts age. Albus didn’t want to push the goblins too much, considering we are already asking for a hearing, so the key is still in his care.”

Severus nodded in understanding and grabbed the bag of gold.

“Did Dumbledore say anything about a date?”

“He expects it to be on Monday.”

“I have classes on Monday,” said Severus quite quickly.

“I’m sure your students will be happy to get a free period on their first day back.”

“No, I have seventh years on Monday. They can’t have a free period. If the goblins really refuse to meet us on the weekend then someone will have to replace me for the day.”

“I will talk to Albus.”

Severus gave the woman a short nod and soon she was gone in a whirl of green flames.

Back in the other room Severus found Harry sitting on the couch, waiting just like he was told to do. This made the man a bit happy. It was clear that discipline wasn’t going to be a problem with the boy, but he tried to ignore the voice in the back of his mind, which was telling him the only reason for that was because the boy had been _beaten_ to behave that way.

“Come on, Potter, follow me,” said Snape, getting the attention of the boy that soon obeyed his command.

Severus went up the stairs stopping in a corridor with a few doors. He suddenly was stuck with the fact he hadn’t specified which rooms were to be cleaned, and that was a problem. Not only did the house have four rooms, but he had his favorite room and he wanted to sleep in it. With an impatient wave of his wand, he opened all the doors to see which were clean, but to his surprise, as he walked in the corridor, the elf had cleaned all the rooms in spite of his command.

_Typical_ _._

With another wave he closed the first two doors. He knew the rooms on the end would be much better since the two of them had bathrooms within. He entered the room on the right and stopped in the center of it turning back to the small boy behind him.

“While you’re in this house, this will be your room. I might have a house elf cleaning it, but that does not mean you can make a mess in here. You _will not_ leave stuff all over the place. That door over there is your bathroom, and the same rule applies to it. Have I made myself clear?” asked Snape in the same commanding voice he used with his students.

But Harry didn’t answered, he was staring at the room with wide eyes as if he was seeing the most strange thing of his life.

“I have a room?” Harry asked in a quiet voice of disbelief.

Severus looked at the boy, divided between being mad at him for ignoring his question and been amused by the child’s reaction. He never got to reach a decision, as a second look to the boy made his mind stop thinking for a moment as he observed the strange scene before him. Here was Harry Potter, one of the most famous wizards in Britain, and he was standing in the middle of the room with tears running down his reddened face. He wasn’t sobbing like normal children do when crying. He was only there in complete silence staring at the double bed. Suddenly, Severus realized that Potter's living in a cupboard had not been a recent arrangement. He had _always_ lived there, and the man had no idea how he felt about that.

“Potter,” called Snape and the boy finally looked at him “Go to sleep. If you need anything, my room is the door right across from yours.”

And with that, Severus left, closing the door behind him and feeling like he could breathe again.

**\--**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter:  
> So, we finally have Snape and Harry interacting! I must say this part was quite difficult, because I was trying to make Severus show his nice side, but without breaking his character canon side. I think I did break it a little, but I also think I was able to justify all of it a bit.  
> I think Snape in canon never saw Harry as Harry. He was always seeing shadows of his past in him, seeing James most of the time and Lily when it was convenient, but I don’t think he ever really saw Harry. So here in this piece, he’s not seeing him either.  
> For what we can get in his memories, his family didn’t have a good relationship and Severus himself was quite neglected. I tried to connect that part of his past to Harry, and make Snape see himself in Harry instead of James so he can actually be a bit nice to him. I know he can, because he was nice to Lily. So he’s able to, he’s just chooses not to be.  
> But, as you will see in the future, this won’t last. Snape is too much hurt by the past to actually see Harry and he’s too convinced Harry will end up like his father to actually give him a chance. Just keep reading to see what’s going to happen with these two.  
> On the other Hand, Harry is dealing with life now and It’s quite difficult to write him as a child dealing with adult problems. But at the same time, I know children understand a lot more than we give them credit for, so I hope Harry is believable in this. Just keep in mind that he’s scared, adapting to a new reality and still a child.  
> About Madame Pomfrey and anemia: I actually did a bit of research on anemia, so yeah, it can be a problem caused by your food habits or your body not properly working as it should. Since Harry wasn’t eating well, malnutrition is a possible cause. In this case, since he’s not doing so bad, a new diet is enough. Just like doctors don’t like giving medicine to children, I don’t think wizards give too many potions to children. Also, Snape is a potion master, not a doctor, he knows about healing potions, but I think the best to look at a child's health is still a healer, or she wouldn’t be needed at Hogwarts.  
> See ya next chapter!


	4. Diagon Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So… it’s been a long time… I’m sorry for the big gap, I had a big problem finding time to do anything and this story is included. I got a job for the holiday season that ate my life and only now I was finally able to update this. My job ends on the end of the month (ALELUIA) and I will finally be able to come back to this. But until then, you will have to wait a bit longer and next chapter will only come in February. Hopefully I will get beck in schedule after all of this and updates will be more frequently as promised.  
> Anyway, thanks again for all the follows, favorites and REVIEWS! I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. Please keep sending me feedback!  
> I would like to give a special thanks to my AO3 reader Britrbrashear who kindly offered to be my beta! Thank you, really, you’re awesome. Still, keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

Harry woke up feeling disoriented and not enough rested, despite being more comfortable than he ever had been before. This time it didn’t take him too long to remember everything. He was now in another house, a house where he was given his own room. He had cried at night for a long time before climbing into bed to sleep. He couldn’t exactly explain why he was crying, but he knew it wasn’t just the room. The moment he heard it was his he felt a strange mix of happiness and sadness and a lot of things crossed his mind. He was crying for those things, some of them he couldn’t comprehend, but he had this feeling that told him it was because it was all too much. As overwhelmed as he was, he had quite the night. Harry looked around the room until his eyes fell to the strange creature standing there.

“Master Snape asked Tipsy to wake you up, Sir. He said you must shower and go downstairs to join him for breakfast.”

Harry looked at the house elf with amazement, he wasn’t used to having a strange creature waking him up. The only thing he ever had was his Aunt screaming to him as she hit his door.

“Ah… ok…” said Harry hesitant.

“Tipsy will leave these clothes here for Master Harry Potter.”

With that Harry finally noticed that indeed the creature was carrying some clothes with him and while he had no idea where they came from, he just accepted them with a nod, which was seemed to be enough for the creature that disappeared with a pop. Harry stood up and looked over the clothes. They were really nice clothes, he was sure of it, and they were also small enough to fit him a lot better than Dudley’s ever would, so they were probably something the man, Snape, had for him as “nice clothes”. He used to have a pair of it back at the Dursleys, he was supposed to use it when he had to go out with them on some special occasion (occasions they were forced to take him, but still), so Harry knew he need to take good care of the clothes he had been given or he could find himself in trouble.

Remembering he was supposed to shower, Harry soon went to the bathroom and was relieved to see the place was simple to operate, since it wasn’t so different than the Dursley’s bathroom. He took a quick shower and dressed, looking over himself only once, but had been amazed nonetheless as he saw how well the clothes fitted him even if they were still a bit big.

Downstairs, Harry found Snape sitting in a table like the day before, but with two chairs and a lot more food.

“Sit down,” said the man, noticing that Harry wasn’t sure if he was to sit at the table or not.

“Thank you for the clothes, sir,” said Harry as he took the chair. He didn’t want the man to think he was ungrateful, like his Uncle used to say he was. The other man looked at him with interest, but took a while to say anything.

“I asked Narcissa for them because she has a son your age. I didn’t thought it would go well to take you out in those rags you had. You shall thank her later if the opportunity arises.”

Harry nodded. He didn’t know who the woman was, but he would make sure to remember her name in case he met her in the future.

“Now eat; I don’t want us to take too long. If we go this morning, we can avoid a majority of the people who may recognize us.” Said the man a bit annoyed.

Harry wasn’t sure what Snape meant, but he started to eat nonetheless. He was surprised though when the man kept on telling him to eat more or to eat fruits and sausages. He was never allowed that at the Dursley's. In fact, he never had so much to eat in one meal like he had with the man.

“We are going to shop in Diagon Alley,” said Snape, Once they had finished eating. “It’s a wizarding place, but we won’t have time for you to explore, so you better not wonder off. You must stay with me all times. Is that clear?”

Harry nodded, sensing the order in the man’s voice. He had been a nice man so far, but risking his anger would be silly.

“Give me your hand,” said Snape.

As soon as he did, Harry felt the most horrible experience, it seemed like it had taken days and days to end and when he came back to his senses he almost felt like his breakfast may reappear.

“Breathe slowly,” said the man and Harry did so, feeling a lot better after a while.

Looking around he saw a place like he had never seen before. There were lots of different stores, painted in a variety of colors with things that moved on their own and people with the most strange clothes and hats.

“Come, we’ll see to your glasses first,” said Snape, taking Harry away from his day dreaming and walking down the street.

There weren’t that many people around, but Harry made sure to keep close to the man, even if he was walking really fast. Harry really couldn’t blame him, considering the amount of people staring at them and whispering as they passed. Harry wasn’t sure if the people were looking at him or the man with him, so he made sure to keep his head down most of the time, so people wouldn’t see much of him. But soon, he found out people were curious about the man with him. As he listened, he heard hushed whispers around them. _“Why does Snape have a child with him?”   “Who would trust someone like Snape with a child?”_ Somehow that was comforting, even if raised a lot of questions in Harry's mind.

“Bloody Hell! Is that really Harry Potter?” said the attendant girl at the shop not too long after they entered it.

“Yes, now please keep it down. I would rather Mr. Potter get everything he needs than being mobbed by all the wizards in the Alley,” Snape said to the girl in his commanding voice. The girl gave the boy and the professor one last look before nodding.

“So, what can I do for you both?” said the girl, still a bit uneasy.

“Mr. Potter needs glasses for myopia.”

“Ok… he can choose a set of frames and then I will cast a spell to check his eyes. After that, the boss will have his lenses ready in fifteen minutes,” said the girl trying to be sweet.

“Choose one, but check the prices,” said Snape turning to Harry.

The boy’s eyes went wide for a minute. He wasn’t expecting to be able to choose. He was never given such opportunity before, but still the happiness overcame the surprise and the boy opened a big smile.

“Thank you, sir,” Harry said happily as he began moving around the store to choose his new frames.

Harry didn't know what kind of glasses he wanted and some of them that looked really different from the frames he had seen before. After looking at a few pairs, he checked their price tags, wondering just what kind of money Galleons were. Suddenly Harry's eyes stopped on a pair of round glasses that looked a bit like his old ones, but a lot more delicate and the rim was copper color.

“I like that one, but I’m not sure how much a galleon is,” said the boy shyly.

“What do you mean how much it is?” asked the attendant sweetly, but a bit confused.

“Well, I know how much a pound is, so I know a hundred pounds is a lot of money, but I don’t know how much a galleon is in pounds”

“I don’t know how much the galleon is right now as it varies. Gringots has a system for converting muggle money, but a galleon in glasses is not much, because they are fairly expensive. A wand, which is really expensive for some people, is seven galleons, so one galleon is not too much. But glasses is something you might want to spend more on because they have enchantments that help them resize as you grow. That way, you can buy one now and keep it for as long as you like and they will grow to fit you. But if you are someone who breaks your glasses often, after using a reparo charm too many times you will notice it won’t resize anymore. Did you understand what I said?” asked the girl still being nice and sweet. Harry wasn’t sure what a reparo charm was, but he understood the explanation well enough.

“Am I allowed to spend a galleon on the glasses, Sir?” asked Harry, turning to Snape.

The man, who was watching the boy’s reaction to the explanation, nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Sir” said Harry smiling and turning to the attendant “I will have this one then”

Smiling, the attendant picked up the glasses and went back to the front desk. Severus looked at the frames, curious as to what the boy would like, and was surprised to find them to be not only old fashioned, but something similar to the glasses he had before. He was expecting the boy to avoid similarities all together.

“Well, I will cast some spells on you to get all the information I will need for the lenses,” said the girl, looking at Harry first before turning to Snape “It will take fifteen minutes to make the lenses and put all the charms on them. You can wait here or come back later.”

“We will come back later,” said Snape and the girl nodded casting all the needed spells, making Harry’s face tingle a bit.

“Okay, all done.”

Severus got the little bag Madame Pomfrey gave him the night before and gave the girl a galleon.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Come,” said Snape, looking at Harry and going to the door.

“Thank you, Miss!” Harry said, smiling and following the man.

“No, Mr. Potter, Thank _you._ ”

\--

After spending more time trying on clothes than ever before, Harry was finally wearing his _own_ clothes. They were simple, but they were _his_ and in the bags Mr. Snape was caring were even more. He also owned shoes, _his_ shoes. He had being delighted all morning. He was allowed to choose his own things and to have more than one of each. In fact, he had at least six shirts now. He had normal clothes and funny ones that Mr. Snape said were wizarding clothes. He was having the best day ever.

“I need to go inside the apothecary to get a few things. Wait right here. Don't move or go wandering off. Do you understand me?” asked Snape when the two of them stopped right outside the apothecary.

“Yes, Sir,” said Harry a bit uneasy, but still cheerful.

“It won’t be long,” said the man before heading inside the shop.

Harry decided to use the time to look around. He had seen it all before, but it was different now that he could actually look and not just see flashes of it because he had to keep up with the man. So far, Harry was amazed about magic and its beauty. He wasn't sure how he felt about being part of a magical world, but he really wouldn’t mind if it meant seeing objects flying around and no one yelling because of it. He once dreamed of a flying motorbike, and his Uncle got really mad at him. He doubted Mr. Snape would yell at him and tell him motorbikes couldn't fly, especially considering he found out that brooms could. In fact, Harry had been really excited about the idea of flying, he wondered what it would be like to be high in the sky.

He was just imagining what flying would be like when something caught his attention. It was a little boy, probably not much older than him and looking like he was about to cry. He was all alone in the street and looking everywhere in desperation. Harry wanted to go to the boy, but he couldn’t leave his place without getting himself in trouble, so he just stared at the boy. Soon the boy saw him too and walked to him.

“Hi,” said Harry shyly.

“Hullo,” said the other boy, just as shyly.

“Are you alright?”

“I can’t find my grandma, have you seen her?” Asked the boy sounding like he was about to start crying right on the spot.

“I don’t know, what does she look like?”

“She… She… She had a big pink hat on…… and… and it had some kind of animal on it too,” said the boy, not sounding too sure of himself.

“Well… I don’t think I saw her……” Said Harry trying to remember someone with a big pink hat.

“What am I gonna do?” said the boy, letting some tears fall down.

Harry wasn’t sure what to do. He was sure the boy was lost, but if his grandma was anything like his Aunt was, she would be looking for him too, because Harry remembered the time that Dudley had gotten lost in the supermarket and she went mad looking for him.

“Maybe you should wait here” Said Harry after remembering that day with Dudley and how it took them forever to find each other because both started looking for the other. “Your grandma will probably be looking for you too, so if you just stay still it will be easier for her to find you”

“Are you sure?” asked the boy drying a few tears in his shirt.

“I think so… but if she doesn’t I’m sure my…” Harry stopped, he wasn’t sure what to name Mr. Snape “My… rescuer… will be able to help you find your grandma”

“Your rescuer?” Asked the boy confused.

“Yeah… he rescued me from my Aunt and Uncle,” said Harry and the boy eyes grew wide.

“Were you in danger?”

“A little bit,” said Harry, because for him at least, Dudley was definitely a danger.

“Ow… Do you really think he would help?” asked the boy full of hope.

“I think so.”

“Then I will wait.”

Harry nodded and smiled as the boy moved closer to him.

“I’m Neville, by the way,” said the boy giving his hand.

“I’m Harry.”

The two shook hands and smiled to each other, happy to have one another.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you,” said Neville after a while. “I was really scared, just wandering around.”

“It’s alright. I would be scared too if I was lost and alone,” said Harry trying to be sympathetic.

“I should be more brave. Grandma is always telling me this, but I’m not good enough, I suppose.”

Harry looked at the tearful boy next to him and grabbed his hand squeezing it in support. He knew what not being good enough felt like.

“You’re gonna be fine,” said Harry, hopping it was the right thing to say. He had never helped anyone before. He had no friends to help. _H_ _e_ was always the one crying with no one to help him.

“Have you ever flown a broom?” asked Harry after a long silence between the two. He wanted to distract the boy, hoping he would relax a bit.

“No, I don’t have a broom. My Uncle told me he would give me one if I did some magic, but I don’t think that is gonna happen. I’m probably a squib,” Neville said sadly.

“What’s a squib?”

“You don’t know?” The boy asked, surprised and Harry said a simple no. “Squibs are people with magical parents that can’t do magic.”

“Is that possible?” asked Harry, panic creeping into his voice.

“Yeah, have you not done anything yet?”

Harry stopped to think for a while and calmed down as he remembered all the strange things he had done while living with the Dursleys. Snape had said that was magic.

“I have.”

“Oh,” exclaimed the boy, impressed. “How did you do it?”

“I… I don’t know,” said Harry. He really didn’t. Most of the time things just… happened… “I think… I think I just had to wish really hard…” Because he had wished hard to escape Dudley and his friends.

“Just like that?” said Neville, still impressed.

“I think so…”

Seeing the sad expression on Neville’s face, Harry decided that he wanted to help the boy somehow. Looking around he spotted a small rock and that gave him an idea, maybe he could make the rock move and then teach Neville how to do it. Harry started to concentrate on the rock, whispering even, for it to move.

“What are you doing?” asked Neville, listening the whispers.

Harry ignored him for a little bit and tried harder. When he was ready to give up, the rock jumped in the air and back to the ground.

“Did you do that?” Asked Neville really impressed.

“Yes. I was testing my theory and now I know it works! So I can teach you now,” said Harry, getting excited by his own words. He never taught anything to anyone before.

“Really?” asked the other boy, full of hope.

Harry nodded and picked up the little rock, leaving it in his hand but close to Neville.

“All you need to do is concentrate really hard on what you want to do”

“And what is that?” asked Neville, a bit confused.

“You want to move this rock,” Harry said firmly.

Neville nodded, even if he still looked unsure, and started staring at the rock in concentration,which left his face all red and even more round than it was already.

“I can’t do it” said Neville after a little bit.

“Yes you can! I know you can!” said Harry. He wasn’t sure if Neville really could do it, but he wanted the boy to be able to, and maybe all he needed was to try harder.

Neville tried again, his whispers not as quiet as before, but Harry didn’t think that was a problem. Suddenly the rock jumped from Harry’s hand hitting Neville right in the forehead and then falling down on the ground.

“Neville, are you alright?” Asked Harry concerned.

Neville look at the hand he automatic put on his face and saw a bit of blood.

“Neville?” insisted Harry, seeing the boy was not reacting.

“Did I do that?” asked the boy in a quiet voice.

“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t me,” said Harry with a small smile.

Neville looked up to Harry and despite the blood on his forehead, he was smiling and his eyes were shining in happiness.

“I did it!! I can’t believe I did it!”

The two boys were so distracted smiling at each other they didn’t notice a new presence walking their way.

“Neville! What are you doing here boy? I’ve been looking for you everywhere! How could you disappear on me like that?” asked the old woman who just stopped right next to the two boys.

“Grandma! You won’t believe…”

“What happened to your face?” Asked the woman not listening to the boy. “Was it you? What did you do to him?” Said the woman turning to Harry with feral eyes.

Harry was so scared he didn’t say anything. It was his fault, since he taught Neville how to move the rock. He got the boy hurt and now he was going to be punished for it just like always.

“No, Gran! It wasn’t Harry,” said Neville, frustrated his Grandma wasn't listening to him.

“Harry?” Asked the woman confused.

“No, it wasn’t him. He was actually teaching me how to do magic.” Started Neville but got interrupted by the woman once again.

“What are you talking about? Who’s Harry? What do you mean he was teaching you magic?”

“He is Harry,” said Neville, indicating the other boy who stood close by. “And he was telling me how to move a rock and I did, Gran! I did magic, I moved the rock! But then it hit my head when I did it… but it was entirely my fault!”

The woman stared at Neville for a while before talking with the voice full of emotion.

“Are you serious? You’re not making this up, are you?”

“No, Grandma, it’s true.”

The woman then hugged her grandson, talking nonsense in her whispers.

“Oh, Neville, I’m so proud of you! I knew you would do it eventually,” said the woman releasing her grandson. “And you taught him?” She asked, turning to Harry, who only nodded, still afraid of the woman.

“Well, I don’t know how you did it, but thank you,” said the woman. Her voice was a lot calmer and gentler, but there was a burning curiosity in her eyes.

Harry looked up to the woman in surprise. He was expecting to be in trouble, not to be thanked for it.

“But what are the two of you doing here? In the meddle of the street?” she asked, looking between the two boys.

“Harry’s rescuer is inside, we were waiting for him so he could help me find you,” Neville explained.

“Rescuer?” she asked, obviously confused and looking at Harry intensely.

“He rescued me from my Aunt and Uncle,” said Harry, giving the same explanation he gave Neville.

“Wait…” said the woman in a small voice, putting her hand on Harry’s chin and turning his head around and then brushing her fingers on the hair in his forehead, making the scar visible. “You’re Harry Potter.”

Harry looked surprised when once again people knew who he was. He didn’t know why that kept happening, but it was a constant here.

“Why do people always know how I am?” asked Harry, finally voicing the question he had on his mind.

“You don’t know?” the woman asked softly and Harry shook his head. “You’re famous Mr. Potter”

“I am? But… Why? I’m nothing special” said Harry, not understanding.

“Yes you are. Don’t you know you own story?” asked the woman confused.

“I know I have magic,” said the boy tentatively.

“Yes, but what about the rest? Did nobody tell you about your parents?” Asked the woman really puzzled.

Harry didn’t know what to say. No one, not even Mr. Snape, ever told him anything about his parents. But this woman was confused by his ignorance and he wasn’t sure what answer would keep him away from trouble.

“Stop thinking so hard. I’m sure there is a reason why no one told you that yet… you’re so young after all,” she said with a small sad smile and Harry couldn’t stop the guilt that flooded through him. “Ah. That is your father’s guilt look. It's been so many years… but sometimes it feels like yesterday.”

“You knew my parents?” asked Harry, confused with the things the woman was saying.

“Yes, I did. Your father used to come to my house to play with my son, Frank, when they were young. They had only a year difference, so they were good friends. Years later, Frank fall in love with Alice, who was good friends with your mother.”

Harry's eyes went wide. For the first time in his life, someone was telling him about his parents. For the first time, they were real people that did something. That had lives of their own.

“No one ever told me anything about them,” Harry said quietly, still not sure if it was alright or not to reveal such a thing.

The woman looked at Harry, and he wasn't sure what the look on her face meant. No one ever looked at him with that kind of expression, something sad but not quite. But it left him with a bad feeling inside, like he was feeling sorry for himself.

“I have an idea, how about I take you and Neville to eat ice cream right over there” Said the woman indicating a colorful store only two stores down on the other side of the street “So we can celebrate Neville’s first magic and then I will tell you a few stories about your parents. You can ask me anything and I will see what I know”

Harry felt his heart beating faster and a rush of emotions running through him. There were many things in that invitation that hit sore spots in his heart, and Harry had no idea how to react. He'd never had ice cream before; his Aunt and Uncle would always say they didn't had money to spend on ice cream, even though he would always see Dudley eating it and smirking at him as he explained how delicious his treat was. He was never invited to celebrate anything; no one cared for his birthday and Dudley always wanted him as far away as possible for his own. In fact, he would always spend the day locked in his cupboard or in Mrs. Figg's house with all her smelly cats. But the thing he really cared about was that no one had offered to tell him about his parents before. About those people how somehow put him in this world, and then left him on his own. He always wondered what kind of people they were, what they looked like, if they loved him……

"Are you alright?" asked the woman in concern and Harry was brought back to the present, realizing that not only he was silent for a long time, but that now he had tears falling down his face.

"Sorry… I would like that,” said Harry, cleaning the tears off with his hands and attempting a smile.

“Come on then,” said the woman, guiding the two boys.

As they walked, Harry noticed Neville was looking at him as if he was slightly scared, which puzzled Harry. Had the boy finally realized he was a freak now that he knew who he was?

“You two can sit here and talk while I go order. What do you want, Harry?” Asked the woman and Harry, not knowing much about ice cream but remembering his cousin's many chocolate popsicles decided that chocolate would be a nice option “Okay, chocolate for Harry and vanilla for you, right Neville?” The other boy nodded and soon the woman was gone.

The two boys kept the awkward silence for a while before Neville talked again, surprising Harry.

“You’re Harry Potter” said the boy as if he had only just realized that.

“Yeah… is that bad?” asked Harry, unsure and afraid of the answer.

“No! It’s incredible. I’ve heard about you. They say you are incredible,” said the boy shyly but obviously fascinated, too.

“Me? I’m not incredible,” said Harry confused.

“You are, you just don’t know it yet,” said Neville, and Harry actually smiled with the other boys statement. “But I didn’t know our parents were actually friends. My family never says much about my parents past. Grandma told me a few of my dad’s old stories, but she never mentioned your dad being in our house or anything.” Neville seemed just as excited to hear about his parents as Harry was.

“My Aunt never talked about my parents. She said I couldn’t ask either. She also didn’t have any pictures, so…” said Harry, somehow jealous that Neville got a few stories, but not realizing why the boy would even need it.

“Not even pictures?” asked Neville with wide eyes.

“No”

“I bet Grandma can find you one, I will ask her!” said Neville completely out of his shell and Harry smiled, happy with everything that was happening.

\--

Severus was annoyed, he only needed a few things and it was obvious the new employer had no idea where they were. He always kept a check list of the ingredients location and their prices. He was taking so long to do it that Severus was inclined to look for it himself. But another thing that made the situation worse was the fact that he had a five year old waiting alone outside the store. Not only that, he had Harry Potter all on his own outside and without the knowledge of his fame. By the time Severus managed to get out of the store he was feeling so anxious he was ready for a calming draught, but everything on his mind went to hell when he realized the boy wasn't there.

Panic wasn't a normal feeling for Severus. He hadn't felt scared ever since Lily's death and his attitude toward children was always skeptical and detached. He didn't like them all that much. He spent some time with Draco, but he was an easy child and not his own, which basically meant he would never have to deal with all the drama kids go through while growing up. But now, even if temporary, Severus was finally responsible for someone and if he hadn't realized before what that meant, he now had a pretty good idea.

After looking around, Severus was about to lose hope. Who ever took him was probably far already. Then he saw the messy dark hair he knew so well. He walked closer, noticing Potter was sitting down with another boy at Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop, and that realization made him furious, not only had the boy disobeyed him and left the place he was told to stay, but he did it to get ice cream. He walked to the two boys furious.

"Why didn't you stay where I told you to?" asked Snape in the best impersonation of his deadly voice.

The two boys looked up, both with so similar guilty expression that it almost looked like they were both in trouble and not only Potter.

"So?" Insisted Severus.

"I'm... I'm sorry, sir," said Harry in a scared voice that clearly showed he was trying not to cry, instantly Severus cursed the Dursley's. He couldn't and wouldn't be soft on the boy when he consciously disobeyed him, but he couldn't help the guilty feeling he now had, because he was dealing with an abused child who would react badly at his normal attitude.

"Professor Snape," said a woman's voice and Severus looked up.

Next to him stood Augusta Longbottom looking as hard and stern as always and in truth Severus didn't know what else he was expecting considering how well she stood in the Lestrange's trial.

"Madame Longbottom," said Snape in greeting.

"So... What are you doing here?" said the woman defensive.

"I'm accompanying Mr. Potter, he was supposed to be waiting for me."

"Yes, he mentioned he was for some kind of... Rescuer," said the woman and Severus knew he wasn't going to get away without explaining a few things to her. "Well, why don't you sit?"

Severus picked a chair in front of the woman and awaited her questions.

“So, why are you, of all people, with Harry Potter?”

“The muggles he’s been living with are unfit. Madame Bones took him from them, but he’s with me until a more permanent residence can be found.”

“Why you?” insisted the woman and Severus knew for a fact the woman did not trust him.

“It was either me or Lucius Malfoy. It was a rather complicated situation”

“I see… I suppose Dumbledore must really trust you then.” Her voice was cold and Severus didn’t respond. She didn’t like him, but she was loyal to Dumbledore.

At that moment, Florean came close with two big ice creams.

“There you go, one chocolate and one vanilla.” The man smiling at the two boy before turning to the two adults. “Anything you would want, Professor?”

“No, thank you,” answered Snape and soon the other man left.

“You two go on and eat,” said Madame Longbottom. The two kids still looked a bit put out after the professor’s arrival.

Harry looked at Snape silently asking for permission and the man nodded, knowing it would be no good to deny the boy ice cream at that moment.

“We’re celebrating,” said the woman out of the blue.

“What’s the occasion?” asked Severus neutrally.

“Harry managed to teach Neville how to use magic. We were afraid he could be a squib.”

Severus looked at Potter unsure of what the woman meant by ‘teach’, the boy was only five and probably had very little control himself. But then, he did mentioned some things he had done while living with his relatives.

“How… interesting,” Said Snape, thinking more about Potter's abilities than Longbottom’s. He couldn’t care less about the boy.

“Indeed…” Said the woman also looking at Harry before sharing a knowing look with the professor. “So… how long is he staying with you?”

“If all goes well, only until Sunday. But it all depends on Gringotts giving us a hearing date, we need to open the Potter’s will and see if they have anyone besides Black appointed as his guardian.”

“I see… do you think there is such a person? What’s going to happen to him if there’s none?” Asked the woman curious, but also concerned.

“Actually, we believe Alice could have being appointed, but unfortunately, that’s not an option. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, a third party is quite unlikely”

“If Alice is appointed, then I will take him,” said the woman firmly and quite offended of being discarded so easily.

Severus paused for a moment, deep in thought. Giving the boy to the Longbottoms was an easy solution. Not the best one, but since the boy was going to be given to a wizard family anyway, the Longbottom’s would be just fine.

“I will tell Dumbledore about that”

“Sure, but I would also like to be present at this hearing. I knew James Potter since he was a child and I will not leave his son alone in a moment of need,” said the woman determined.

“I will make sure you are informed,” said Severus politely. He was ready to get away from the woman.

Severus turned to the two boys. They were still eating, but not much in a celebratory mood since they were looking at the two adults nervously. In fact, Severus was a bit amused by their behavior, since it seemed like the Longbottom boy was just as scared about people as Potter. Perhaps that was what brought the two together.

“How are you two enjoying your ice cream?" asked Madame Longbottom with a small smile.

"It's good, thank you, Gran," said Neville.

"How about you, Harry?"

"It's really good, thank you," said Harry, still rigid and Severus could recognize the false politeness of a child trying to escape trouble.

"I'm sure we can come back here another day so you can try some other flavors."

Harry nodded but didn’t say anything else. Severus waited patiently until he noticed both boys had finished eating and then he stood up.

“Well, I must get going, but I will make sure you are informed about the hearing,” said Snape before making a sign to Harry to follow him.

“Sure… Well, it was lovely to see you, Harry. Hopefully we will see each other again very soon,” said Madame Longbottom.

Harry nodded but didn’t dare say a word, and soon he was out of sight following Snape back to the first shop.

“What happened?” asked Snape trying to get the truth from the boy without getting him too scared.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to leave, don’t take me back…” Harry said desperately, his voice cracking in the end.

Severus stopped and turned. The boy in front of him was absolutely terrified and he wondered what the little boy used to live with.

"Calm down, I just want to know what happened,” said Severus, trying to sound as calm as possible. "I'm not mad," he added, thinking the small lie was the best option now.

Harry soon nodded accepting he wasn't in as much trouble as he first thought he would be. Somehow he was starting to accept that life as he knew was over.

"Neville got lost, he was crying when he saw me, so I told him to wait with me 'cause I thought it would be easier to look for his grandma if you were with us."

"What about that story of him doing magic?"

"He said he couldn't do it, so I told him what I usually did and it worked, he made the rock move."

Severus didn’t know how to react to the revelation that Potter had taught another child how to do magic. It was probably an accident, but it also was a clear sign that Potter had, at least on some level, a notion on how magic worked. _Just like Lily._ Severus felt a strange sensation and for a moment the thought of Potter trying to teach the Longbottom child brought the memories of Lily, trying to show Petunia how she could open and close the petals of a flower. For a moment he looked at the green eyes that looked at him with worry and lost himself in the memories. That was the reason he was still there. That was the reason why he still had Potter’s son following him around.

“I see.. well let’s go pick up your glasses and then go back to my house. We can talk more about it there.”

Harry nodded and soon was following the other man through the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Diagon Alley! I didn’t make all of the description that made us enchanted with the place in the books, because I didn’t think I needed to, but I tried to show that Harry did notice how amazing the place was. Obviously, Harry’s main focus is on the fact his getting his own things, so…  
> Also, I thought a bit about why Harry and his father never got their eyes fixed and I came to the conclusion that magic just can't fix everything if it’s biological. For example, Moody had a mechanical eye and was missing a leg because magic can’t just grow that back. Also, a lot of wizards have scars that magic can’t make disappear, so I decided eye problems are a similar thing.  
> This part of the story is not so much into medical things, though Harry is still not in the best of health. In the future, most likely near the end, there will come a time when I will explore the medical side of the wizarding world. So, I have actually thought a lot about how everything works, hopefully it will all be believable.  
> And here it comes, Neville! I always wondered about how close the Longbottom's were to the Potter's, because according to the black family tree, they are very closely related. In fact, if it’s true that Dorea and Charlus Potter were James parents because they had a child when they were older, than James parents would be Augusta’s parent's cousin, which is something that could make the two families quite close. All of these thoughts made me think that it kind of made sense to have the Longbottoms be a close connection and an option for Harry.  
> Another thing I wondered was what Augusta felt towards Harry, because I’m pretty sure she knew about the prophecy, since her grandchild could have been the one too. Also, she never showed adoration for him when she met him. She barely noticed the fact he was Harry Potter. So I thought a lot about what kind of woman she was and I think she really wouldn’t adore Harry or anything, but she would respect the fact he did something amazing and that he might be something big for the future. With that in mind, I started creating her and the Longbottoms. I think things are a bit off in this chapter, because while I want her to be the respectable woman we see in the books, I also want her to be the woman that is proud of her grandson. Obviously, there’s the part where she wants him to be as good as his father, and this is bad, because that makes Neville insecure, but she’s a person, and she can be complex.  
> You’re going to see a lot of the Longbottoms in this first part of the story, so I will be able to explore not only Neville’s childhood, but a small background for his parents and Harry’s. I hope you like it.  
> About Harry teaching, it’s usual for kids to try and show others tricks they know. When they’re nice, they teach the others around them how to do the trick too, so I don’t think that’s weird at all. And anyway, I think Harry is a natural teacher. Despite Hermione being the brain of the group, usually Harry was the one teaching things or helping others get their confidence, so I think this was also in character for him.  
> See ya


	5. Draco Malfoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So… it’s been a long time… Again…  
> I’m almost done with college and I had a lot of things to do, we had problems on our group and had to kick out one of the members, it was a mess, but here is another chapter and if you guys are luck (or review a lot) you can get the next chapter sooner.  
> Anyway, thanks again for all the follows, favorites and REVIEWS! I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. Please keep sending me feedback!  
> Also, my beta was busy, so this chapter hasn't been revised, I tried to check it, but just keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I'm trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

Back in Spiner’s End, Harry was organizing his new clothes in the wardrobe of his room when Tipsy came to tell him to go down for lunch.

“Thank you, Tipsy” Said Harry finally talking with the creature, he had been so astonished the other times he forgot to thank the strange thing.

The creature looked at him as if he was an alien and them made a strange sound before disappearing which made Harry wonder if he had upset the thing.

As soon as Harry got downstairs he saw Snape sending an own out the window and couldn’t contain his shock, because despise seen some of them in cages back at the wizard place they went, it was completely different to see one so close and free.

“Was that an owl?”

"Yes" Said Severus turning to Harry.

"What was it doing here?"

Severus stared at him for a minute amazed how the shy boy was suddenly asking questions and wondered if it was all because he didn't react badly earlier.

"Wizards uses owls to send mail"

Harry nodded in understanding but didn't press on for more answers and Severus was glad he wasn't one of those children, even if the reasons for it were quite bad.

The letter was for Dumbledore, about his conversation with Augusta Longbottom, but without mentioning what passed on between the two little boys, he wasn't sure if he wanted the Headmaster to know that quite yet, he knew the man had a few plans for the boy in the future, no need to start messing up things so soon.

The two wizards sat down to eat lunch, it was later than Severus wanted it, but the shopping had took a bit longer too. But it was clear to him the boy wasn't bothered considering he was used to long intervals without food.

“Err.. Sir?” Asked Harry in a timid voice.

“Yes?”

Harry looked around his plate for a while longer, he wasn’t used to asking questions and was worried what the other man was going to do.

“It’s just… why did people on those stores always knew my name?”” Asked Harry, he had been thinking about that for a long time, but wasn’t sure if he should ask, but since the man hadn’t been nasty to him he thought he could.

Severus looked at him for a moment, sure the boy was going to realize something, but he wasn’t expecting him to actually ask, on the other hand he had been pondering the idea of telling the boy something about his fame before the hearing, it was going to be mentioned at some point and he would have to be prepared, especially considering he would grow up in the wizard world. Something in Severus was against the idea, Dumbledore gave Potter to the muggles to protect him, but also to keep him away from all of that fame, sure Severus expected him to be spoiled anyway and then delight himself in his fame later on, but now he wasn’t sure what was going to happen, growing up within the wizard world was definitely going to create a spoiled brat and he didn’t want to be the one to start it all by telling the boy here and now.

"There was a war in the wizard world back when you were born and unfortunate it cost your parents life, but the fact that you survived made your name well known in our world” Said Severus very carefully.

“War?” Asked Harry in a quiet voice.

“Yes”

Severus kept a close look to the boy, he was quiet and thoughtful in a strange way and he was hoping it was just the concept of war taking a while longer to sink in. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for a reaction to burst in the form of silent tear.

“She said…” Harry sobbed “She said they died in a car accident!”

Severus was stunned, it never occurred to him what Petunia would tell the boy and what effect the truth would cause him. Perhaps he was too young for that conversation after all.

However, inside Harry’s mind things were much more wild than the other man could even imagine, because it wasn’t the way his parents died that made a difference, it was the fact they weren’t drunks, they weren’t an irresponsible couple who got drunk and hit the car with their one year old on board, it was the idea that maybe they cared, that maybe they had loved him after all, that maybe his father did had a job and his mother wasn’t a slut, because that was what he heard, that’s what Aunt Marge would spit when she was drunk, that’s what his Uncle would say whenever someone found out about his nephew existence.

Without a word Severus watched as the boy cried his heart out, but neither said a word more until they finished eating and Harry stopped crying.

“I’m still expecting news about when your residence will be decided”” Started Severus ignoring whatever conversation they had before, he didn’t know how to deal with they boy and wasn’t about to worry over it “So for now both of us will have to stay here, I however have work to do, you can try and find something to do inside the house as long as you don’t make any noise that will disturb me”

Harry nodded but kept staring at his empty plate, he had no idea what he was going to do, the house didn’t seem to have television and it definitely didn’t have toys, in fact the only thing it had was books.

“Can I borrow one of your books, Sir?” Asked Harry.

Severus looked at him curious for a moment.

“I don’t have children's book in here or any fairy tale kind of book, most of my books are about magic, especially potions, I dumb you would understand most of them” Said Severus trying not to sound cynical, it wasn’t the boys fault he was only five, most of the time he had to deal with first years who were capable of understanding, but just wouldn’t try hard enough.

“Do you have anything about plants?”

“Plants? Why plants?” Asked the man intrigued

“Aunt Petunia always had me helping her on her garden, so I was reading about different types of plants, I’m allowed to take books from the school library as long as I give them back on time, the Dursleys didn’t mind when I was reading, they don’t like books, and there wasn’t much I could do in the cupboard anyway”

Severus smirked, obviously that family wouldn’t like books, but it was surprising the boy had access to them, on his childhood his parents had books, so he too would pick them to distract himself when there was nothing else to do.

“Fortunately, I do have many books on the subject”

Severus stood up and walked around the walls covered in books and looked for something that would be simple enough for a child to understand, he knew he had some enciclopedias that could do, but it had been long since he used them, most of the books he needed where on his room at hogwarts. He was still looking when he went across a first year herbology book, it was simple enough and it would be useful for the boy if he was really interested in learning anything.

“Here, you can have this one, it’s about magical plants, but I suppose it will do” Said Snape giving the book.

“One thou…sand magical herrrrbs and...  f-fungi” Said Harry reading the cover slowly “Thank you, Sir”

Severus nodded, called the house elf to clean everything and left the boy to his reading, he need to go the other room to floo to Hogwarts to get the students assignments, he still had a lot of things to correct and hadn’t done much since all the story with the boy.

\--

It had been a few hours, but despise Severus expectations Harry kept on reading very attentive in a way he almost forgot the boy was with him, he used the table to organize his grading and, in fact, the afternoon was very useful, if the next day was this good he would probably finish. looking up, Severus stopped writing and observed the boy, he was quite relaxed in the couch, reading with interest, but he also was doing something with his hand as if he was writing.

"What are you doing?" Asked Severus starting the boy.

"Reading, sir"

Severus rolled his eyes.

"With your hand, like you writing in your thigh"

"I'm sorry" Said Harry looking down and sinking on himself.

"So?" Insisted Snape.

"I used to write the important bits while I was reading, so if I needed to check something it would be easier to find, because Aunt Petunia would be angry at me if I messed up something on her garden"

Severus rolled his eyes once again.

"Why didn't you ask for paper?"

"I'm sorry" Said the boy even more retracted.

Severus looked at the boy, he needed to control himself or he wouldn't be able to deal with the boy once he lost it. He wasn't used to be gently with his students, he had a few who behaved too shy to be normal and he had dealt with more than one case of students with family problems, but he wasn't the one dealing with them most of the time, he would just push them and they would simply accept because he was their teacher not their guardian, unfortunately he was now in the position of guardian and he had no idea how to deal with such _irritating_ matters.

“If you wanted paper, you could have asked” Said Severus in the best neutral voice he could manage “Whatever you need, you ask, let _me_ be the judge if you really need it or not”

Harry nodded slowly, but didn’t turn to look at the man.

“Now go shower, we shall have dinner next”

The boy nodded quickly and left as soon as possible. When he was out of sight, Severus called the house elf to ask for dinner and decided to retreat to his own room for awhile, unfortunately an owl in the window made him stay. It was from Hogwarts.

_Severus,_

_I_ _’m delightful about Madame Longbottom’s declaration, I’m sure Harry will be in great hands there, the Longbottoms are a good family._

_About the hearing, the goblins have agreed to meet us on friday, formal invitation will be delivered tomorrow, Harry will have to be present the entire time. I will make sure Augusta is informed, I will talk to her tomorrow. If she takes Harry, she will need to be informed about a few things and since Lucius will also be present at the hearing I don_ _’t think friday would be such a good day to talk._

_I tried to contact Remus, but unfortunately I did not find him, I thought he would be interested in participate on Harry_ _’s life now, tell me if you know anything._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Severus read the letter and was glad Dumbledore was going to deal with the Longbottoms, looking after the boy was troublesome enough, he was also glad the hearing was so soon, with luck he would be hid of the boy by monday and in time to go back to his classes. However, the mention of Lupin made him row his eyes, he had no idea what good contacting the werewolf would do, last Severus saw him the man was a mess, couldn’t take care of himself and was obviously not worried about the boy as soon as Dumbledore said the words “He’s save””. In fact, Severus hadn’t heard from him in three years, the man had knocked on his door, cried for help and left right after the full moon saying some insanity about going to the muggle world. They had never been close or friends, their only interaction was the few times he had brewed some wolfbane during the last year of the war and only because Dumbledore had requested along with his spying, something the werewolf clearly found out considering he came to him for help.

“I hope you don’t mind me stepping in, but I wasn’t fond of waiting in the fireplace since you were clearly not hearing my call” Said a voice from behind and all thoughts of the letter in his hand vanished.

"Lucius" Said Severus in greeting.

"How's everything going? Narcisa told me you asked her for clothes, did you take the boy out?" Asked Lucius with his false curiosity that Severus knew so well, he was sure the man had already heard something about Harry Potter being seen in Diagon Alley.

“The boy needed a few things, I wasn’t about to take him on those rags the muggles gave him, but I can send them back if you wish, I know they are Draco’s”

“No need. Did you take him to some healer? How’s his heath?”

“Dumbledore sended me Madame Pomfrey, the boy is fine, a bit malnutritioned but nothing a few weeks with a health diet won’t fix”

“I see… That’s good…… How’s he taking magic? I assume you had a talk with him about it”

Severus looked at Lucius for a moment, he was close to whatever this conversation was really about.

“Fine, he already knew he was different, knowing about magic only cleared him thoughts, he’s still a small child, they accept things easier”

“Indeed…”

The silence remained for a while, Severus was sure Lucius still had a few questions in mind, he knew many ex-Death Eaters believed Potter to have great power, a new Dark Lord many would say, he was sure Lucius wanted to find out if the boy was what they expected.

“Where is he anyway?” Asked Lucius clearly given up on the subject.

“I sent him up to shower before dinner”

“I see… Do you know how much longer you will stay with him?”

“Dumbledore just wrote me telling the goblins agreed on friday, so hopefully I will be rid of him on monday”

“Still sounds like a long time, what have you been doing with the child all day?”

Severus used a minute to reflect again on Lucius actions, perhaps there was more to his visit than he had noticed.

“I gave him a book, he likes reading”

“Interesting… yet I was thinking that perhaps now that he has successfully settle down and had dealt with going out so fine, he would enjoy some more… company”

_There_

“I don’t think he’s ready to interact with too many people all at once”” Said Severus very carefully, he had a few ideas about what could be Lucius intentions and despise knowing that he needed to keep himself on the man’s good side, he also needed to keep the boy safe.

“Perhaps if Draco comes, I’m sure the two would enjoy some company and Draco had been asking about Potter since that day, he was the one who found him after all”

Severus controlled his outside, but took a deep breath on the inside, Lucius obviously wanted to put the two boys together and there was no reason for him to deny his godson coming over, especially considering he knew how lonely the boy lived most of the time.

“Tomorrow? Maybe?” Insisted Lucius.

“Sure, after lunch?”

“Draco will be delightful” Said Lucius with a pleased smile.

“I’m sure”

With a few words more Lucius was gone and Severus was left with the uneasy feeling that he might have just played right into Lucius wishes.

\--

Severus did not tell Harry about Draco’s visit, because he didn’t thought it would do much good to make the boy worry about something it was only going to happen later on, but he was obligated to tell him about the hearing when, on the next morning, an owl from Gringotts came by.

“Why goblins?” Asked Harry after hearing the people with the papers that would or wouldn’t say where he was going to live were actually goblins.

“They are good with money, they have been running our financial system for centuries, because of that they also deal with wills and heirlooms”

Harry nodded while still thinking over this new concept of goblins as bankers, he would have loved to see his Uncle getting inside the wizard’s bank, the man was always the first to say a good word about bankers, in fact he would often say how _he_ would love to work in a bank.

“Anyway, I still have work to finish today, so you can do whatever you like as long as it remains as quiet as possible”

Harry nodded and Severus stood from the table calling the house elf to clean the breakfast remains so he could use the table to resume his work. Harry went back to his room and grabbed the book he was reading and went back down to sit on the couch, he knew he could just stay on his room, but he wanted the company of the other man, with the Dursleys he was always alone, looked up in his room, so now that he was allowed a living room, he was quite happy to spend time there.

“What is your job, sir?”Asked Harry all of a sudden and interrupting Snape’s reading.

Severus looked at the boy with annoyance, he was starting to realise he liked the boy more when he was too afraid to ask questions.

“I’m a teacher” Said the man rispid.

“What do you teach?”

“Potions” Said the man taking a deep breath.

“Wait, like magical potions?” Asked Harry dropping the casual asking to look really interested at the other man.

“Do you know of any other kind?”

“I read a few books were witches would make potions, but usually it was some kind of poison, like in snow white’s story”

Severus rolled his eyes with the silliness of the boy, he was very aware that muggle stories had a very twisted concept of wizards and witchcraft.

“Potions can be poisons, but it’s not limited to be, some potions can be used for healing or to accomplish some kind of magical effect”

Harry looked very attentive, he was interested in what the man was saying since his book would often talk about how some plaint could be used in some kind of potion.

“Do you have any books about potions similar to the one about plaints you gave me? Sometimes my book talks about the use of plaints for some potion, but I don’t know what they do”

Severus stopped to really look at the boy, he was surprised to see him so interested in learning, in truth he was expecting the boy to be lazy and silly and to show up at Hogwarts in a few years and be his most difficult student. He could relate himself to the boy in a way, he too had used books to easy his bad relationship with his parents and later on made learning his permanent escape, but Severus was also very aware how bad that actually was, it conflicted him, in a way Potter was very young, he shouldn’t be so interested in studying, but playing around like every silly child, however, in another way Severus wanted to teach him, if only so the boy wouldn’t lose that desire to learn and turn into the same stupid boy his father had been. In the end that was what it was to Severus, Lily’s desire to always learn more about the magical world she knew nothing about against James arrogance to believe he was better than others, too good to study hard, both sides fighting to dominate a boy too young to understand.

“Change your clothes, we’re going out”

At hearing those words Harry panicked, he was sure he had gone too far, Severus didn’t want him any longer, he was going to be dropped off somewhere like his Uncle always said would happen.

“I’m sorry, please don’t throw me away” Said the boy in desperation.

Severus looked at the boy in confusion before understanding came to him and he rolled his eyes.

"We're just going to get something in London, we're coming back"

Harry looked at the other man for a bit, looking for any sign of a lie, before he nodded and went up the stairs to change.

\--

Severus apparated in a small corner in Covent Garden, he knew what he wanted could be found in Cokeworth, but he wasn't familiar with the town, he was only there inside his house, and he prefered London. At his side, Harry looked in wonder at the market they walked in, he had never been to anywhere too far from the house and the place around him not only was different from everything he ever saw in Surrey, but it was also very crowded.

"Where are we, Sir?" Asked Harry still looking around.

"London, unfortunately full of tourists"

The pair walked a bit until they found the place Severus had been looking for: Waterstones. The bookshop wasn't so full, Severus had chosen this one expecting that, he wasn't about to take the boy to piccadilly circus even if the other store was bigger.

"Are we looking for books?"

Severus didn't answer and kept walking until he reached the childrens section.

"Hello, sir, anything I can help you with?" Asked one of the attendants.

"A book about plants" Said Snape indicating the boy with him.

The girl attendant looked at him confused, but bent down to talk with Harry.

"Hello, what's your name?"

Harry hesitated for a moment and looked at Severus before answering.

"I'm Harry"

"That's a beautiful name! I'm Lara, what are you looking for?"

Harry looked confused to the girl, he wasn't the one looking for anything, but both adults around him looked at him expectant.

"Something about plants..." Said Harry coping what Severus had said.

"Why plants?" Asked the girl confused, most kids would look for fantasy stories.

"I was helping my aunt with her garden" Said Harry shyly.

"Ok!"

The girl guided the two to a corner and grabbed two big books.

"Well this one is about how seeds grow" Said the girl giving Harry the first colorful book "And this one is about different types of flowers"

"This one is the book I borrowed from school!" Said Harry recognizing the book.

The girl smiled at Harry and then turned to the strange man accompanying him.

"There's a few other's about growing seed if that's what you looking for. There's also this one" Said the girl picking up another book "But it's grade 4, so I think he will be too young to understand"

Severus grabbed the book and looked at a few pages, it was less colorful than the ones the girl had given the boy, but it still had lots of pictures, but also a lot more text. He was sure the boy would be able to understand more than others at his age would, but it was still too specific on some of muggle's scientific stuff he wasn't sure the boy was ready for.

"There's also this one of Dr. Seuss, if you like his books" Said the girl turning back to Harry and giving him another book.

Harry looked at the book with curiosity, he had seen one of this before, Dudley got one for Christmas, but throwed it ways because he didn't like books, at least until he saw Harry reading it, then he ripped it apart.

Severus, thinking the boy had enough time with the books gave back the one he knew would be useful and tuned to Harry.

"This one is the one you were reading, right?" Asked Snape grabbing the book about plants and Harry nodded "Do you want it?"

Harry looked at the man with wide eyes before distrust came back to him, no one had ever offered him anything truly, in fact his Uncle would often make him admit he wanted it before saying he wasn't going to get it. Severus noticing the boy's distrust demeanor soon realised he was once again provoking some part of his trauma.

"I'm buying you a book, do you want this one, or do you want another one" Said Severus trying to make sure the boy understood he was going to give him the book.

Harry kept on looking at Severus until he came to some understanding and his face got slightly red.

"I want that one" Said Harry in a strange voice and Severus realized he was trying not to cry.

The attendant looked at the two with interest but also worry.

"I'm sorry, but what is going on here?" Asked the girl looking at Severus with distrust, it was clear she was worried the man had done something to the little boy, in fact Severus was very aware how strange he must look with a child.

"His last guardians weren't very nice, I was friends with his mother so I'm fostering him until he can be placed with some other relative"

It was a lie, Potter did not had any other relatives, but he was trying to make it simple. The girl clearly understood and accepted it because she turned back to the boy with a sympathetic look.

"Trust issues..." She whispered and Severus was sure it wasn't the first time she was seeing such a thing "Well, do you want anything else or is this one be it?" Said the girl in a more cheerful voice.

"I want a journal and pencils" Said Severus and the girl nodded.

She grabbed the other book from Harry and placed it back in the shelf, but noticed he was still staring at the Dr. Seuss one and hesitated on grabbing it too.

"Do you want that one?" Asked Severus noticing the same as the attendant.

Harry, noticing what he was doing, shocked his head and gave the book back to the girl, who looked back at Severus in question.

"Do you want it?" Asked Severus again, but more insistent.

Harry didn't look at Severus or the attendant and stared the floor in a sign of guilty. Severus took a deep breath and silently asked the girl for the book.

"The journal?" Said Severus to the attendant and she made a sign for him to follow.

"Come on, Potter"

Harry looked up to Severus and noticed the man was carrying the two books and felt his eyes watering, but he tried not to cry, never in his life someone had done that for him, he finally got something and it was as good as he always dreamed it would.

\--

As soon as they got everything from the bookshop, Severus apparated them back to his house, he wasn’t sure yet what all of his actions had been about, he never did something so spontaneous before, he had done some nice things for Draco, but that was it, apart from the Malfoys he wasn’t close to anyone else to really care. But doing all that felt like he had the good days back, like when he was a child and despise all the bads he had Lily…

With a sign Severus decided to stop thinking so hard about it all, it was insignificant and he was only drowning himself on the ghosts of his past. He looked at the boy still standing uncertain in his living room and got the packages from the bookshop.

“Here” Said Severus getting the journal and a pen from the packaged “You can use this to write down your notes and your questions, then when I finish my work you can ask everything at once. Potions are complicated, I will see what I can teach you”

In truth, Severus had no intention in teaching a five years old anything he was too young to understand, but he could try to solve a few questions, if only so the boy would keep the interest in it long enough to grow into a good student when the time was right.

Harry, on the other hand, was amazed by the opportunity, never before he was offered so many possibilities. The Dursleys never bothered to help him with anything, they never bothered with Dudley's bad grades, the rare moments they had shown any emotion related to Harry’s school work was when his teacher told them how well he was at spelling and how amazed she was with his reading. They weren’t much pleased.

“Thank you, Sir” Said Harry vehement with a big smile in his face.

Severus nodded to the boy and called the house elf to ask lunch to be served in a hour.

“ I will return to my work, please keep it down” Said Severus turning one last time to Harry.

Soon both wizards were entertained in their own things and time passed not much different from the day before. It was not long after lunch though that someone at the fireplace started calling.

“I will be back shortly” Said Severus before leaving the room and going to his fireplace.

There in the fire was Draco’s head.

“Uncle Sev! Can I come through?” Asked the boy.

Severus nodded and soon the boy was landing in his house trying to be as gracious as a five years old could be when using the floo.

“Father said I was allowed to come after lunch, he said Potter is here” Said Draco full of expectation, it was clear the boy was very excited with the idea of meeting the Potter boy.

“Yes, he’s reading in the living room, I will introduce you and then you two can spend the day together, but please keep it down, I’m working and I don’t want to be disturbed” Said Severus before guiding the boy to the other room.

As soon as he reached the other room, Draco looked around trying to find the boy until his eyes stopped on the small figure sitting in the couch and reading very concentrated.

“Potter” Called Severus getting the boy’s attention.

Harry turned to look at the man, but just as soon Draco noticed the moment those green eyes stopped on him.

“Come here” Said Severus “I know you and Draco have already seen each other, but I want you two to be proper introduced”

Harry did not move for a moment, his eyes fixed in the other boy in the room, but soon he put his book down and walked close to the blond, stopping almost in front of him, but much more closer to Severus.

“Potter, this is Draco Malfoy, you probably remember him from the day we first met” Said Severus watching the strange reaction from the Potter boy.

“Hello” Said Draco taking a step forward.

At the same moment, Harry took a step backward and put his arms around him, as if protecting himself.

“Why is he doing that?” Asked Draco really puzzled and looking between Harry and his godfather.

“I don’t know” Said Severus slowly while his mind tried to understand what was happening.

“You remember me right?” Asked Draco starting to sound annoyed, but the only reaction he got was a strong nod and another step backwards.

“You’re the boy who tried to mess with Dudley” Said Harry quietly after a moment of silence.

“Dudley? Was that the whales name? That’s rubbish, who name a kid Dudley?” Said Draco snobbish and making the boy in front of him even more uneasy.

Severus, who had been watching carefully the boys reactions, finally understood what was going on and silently cursed inside his head. Potter had been afraid of his cousin, but now he was in front of a boy who had dared to defy said cousin, no matter if Draco didn’t look stronger than Potter’s cousin, he was still a threat because he had acted like he could defeat the bigger and scarier boy. So in simple words, Potter was scared that Draco was going to do something to him.

_Just great._

"Draco..." called Severus in warning.

Draco looked between the other two before frowning at Harry.

"Are you afraid of me?" Asked Draco.

Harry did not answer, but he bit his lips and that was enough for Draco.

"I'm not going to hurt you" he insisted.

Harry kept on looking at him doubtfully.

"I wasn't going to hit your cousin either" said Draco rolling his eyes.

Harry's demeanor calmed down and he opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself.

 "I... I thought that if he knew who I was he was going to back down" said Draco more quietly and feeling his cheeks redden “Everyone in that village know”

Harry looked surprised but nodded accepting the answer.

“I’m Harry”

Draco smiled and put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and seeing that he didn’t go away he looked at the green eyes.

“I will look after you”  Said Draco determined and Harry gave him a smile, never before that promise had been made to him “So… what were you doing?”

“I was reading one of the books I got this morning” Said Harry getting excited.

“Can I see it?”

Harry nodded and guided Draco to the couch he had been before. Severus looked over them for a bit longer to make sure everything was really fine, but as the boys got engaged in a conversation about plants, he relaxed and went back to his work.

“So you’ve been studying all this time?”Asked Draco after Harry told him all about the book he was reading.

“Yeah, but it’s fine, it’s better here then with the Dursleys”” Answered Harry conformed.

“Are you going to stay here for now on?”

“I don’t think so, Severus said we will be meeting with Goblins tomorrow to decide where I will be staying”

“Can’t you just ask to stay here?” Asked Draco furrowing his face.

Harry didn’t know the answer, in fact he didn’t even know if he was welcomed to stay, although he was quite nice, Severus also acted like he didn’t like to have Harry as his responsibility.

"I don't think I can" Said Harry quietly.

"It would be nice if you could, we would be able to see each other all the time and maybe you could came to the Manor and play quidditch with me"

"What's quidditch?" Asked Harry confused.

"You don't know?" Asked Draco loudly and surprised.

"Sorry" Said Harry feeling ashamed, whatever quidditch was, it was clear he was stupid for not knowing about it.

"It was because of the muggles, I forgot" Said Draco a bit sorry for his outburst, his father did mention Potter was ignorant of the wizard world.

"If you two will start to talk loudly, I suggest you both go upstairs" Said Severus from his table and giving a pointed look to Draco.

“Sorry Uncle Sev” Said Draco.

“Come on, we can stay in my room” Said Harry, very happy that he could finally say that to someone.

Both boys went upstairs and sat down on Harry’s bed.

“Looks a bit empty” Said Draco.

“I didn’t have anything” Said Harry a bit ashamed, he didn’t want to explain how bad his old life was and have the risk that Draco would go away.

Draco looked at Harry, but didn’t say anything more about it, he could remember the rags Harry had been wearing the day they met and imagine that if his relatives couldn’t give him proper clothes, they probably haven’t give him anything else.

“I have a lot of magical toys, I’m sure I can bring them next time, so we can play with them” Said Draco sounding a bit snobbish to Harry’s ears, but nothing like Dudley.

“That would be nice”

“Yeah, I don’t have people to play with very often”

Harry looked at Draco sympathetic, he could understand the feeling very well and he was glad they both had each other now, even if it wasn’t forever.

“So…” Started Harry trying to find a way to break the silence that had fallen between them “You never told me what quidditch was”

\--

It was dinner time when Severus stood from his working space and went upstair to call the boys down, he was sure that after the initial tension they had managed to keep friends or he would have heard something by now, but he was still surprised by the sight he had when he entered Potter’s provisory room. Right there he saw both boys spread on the bed and laughing over something he had no idea what it was, but what was most impressive was how nature they looked, as if they were two ordinary boys and had known each other all their lives. It was a warming sight.

“Dinner is ready, wash and go down” Said Severus before leaving.

It wasn’t long before the boys went down, both still smiling in a way Severus was sure had to do with whatever they were talking about before.

“Did you finish your work, Uncle Sev?” Asked Draco when they started eating.

“I’m almost done, I will sit down a little longer after dinner so I won’t have to worry about it any longer”

“I’m glad” Said Draco.

“And what have you been doing upstair?”

“I was explaining Quidditch to Harry and a few other things about magic”

Severus nodded, he had noted how interested Potter was about all things magical and he was sure his godson was more than willing to talk about his knowledge.

“Draco said that we could go and watch a real game one of this days” Said Harry sounding excited about the idea, something Severus had seen very little.

“The Harpies will play against Puddlemere United next month, Dad got us tickets, I’m sure he can get us one more so Harry can come” Said Draco sounding as spoiled as Severus knew he was.

“We will see about that, Potter is not going to stay here for much longer, your father will have to ask his guardian's permission” Said Severus trying to be neutral, but he knew it was unlikely the two would be able to keep friends after Potter was gone. If he was correct, it was most likely Potter would end up with the Longbottoms and he doubt they would allow a Malfoy anywhere near their golden boy.

Unfortunately, Severus statement was enough to remind the boys it was all going to end really soon, so silence few between them and all the happiness seemed to end.

“I should send you home, Draco, your mother will be distressed if we take too long” Said Severus after dinner.

Draco nodded silently and the trio stood from the table, moving to the fireplace room.

“Bye, Harry” Said Draco looking at the other boy with sadness in his eyes.

“Goodbye, Draco” Said Harry with the same sadness, but much more resigned than Draco, something Severus did notice and thought that maybe the boy was used to losing friends, he wasn’’t sure if Potter had any before with the Dursleys.

“I wish you could stay” Said Draco looking at Severus, but was ignored without ceremony, Potter staying was out of question, not only it wouldn’t be allowed, but Severus was going back to work on monday, caring for a child wasn’t on his plains.

Soon Draco was gone and Severus was once again alone with the Potter boy.

“So you liked Draco?” Asked Severus attempting to get the boy talking, he was curious to what he had to say about the day.

“He’s nice, sometimes he talks like Dudley, but he’s nothing like him” Said Harry.

“Draco is indeed a spoiled boy much like your cousin, but I’m sure his father would never admit the same behaviour”

“I told him a few stories about Dudley, he agreed that Dudley is an idiot” Said Harry as if that explained everything.

"I see..."

"I'm never gonna see him again, will I ?" Asked Harry quietly.

“You will see him at school when you turn eleven, if not sooner”

Severus was a bit surprised that Potter had picked up on his possible separation from his new friend, but he did not show it and instead he tried to be sympathetic with the situation.

 “You should shower for bed” Said Severus and Potter nodded before leaving without a word.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes Draco! He’s now officially a regular in this story and we’re going to have his point of view back. I was very exited for this chapter, it’s quite hard to show a friendship forming and I wanted to do it right. We’ll have a few more chapters of them as kids, there’s still a lot to happen now to sustain them in my version of Hogwarts years, but eventually I will skip time so we can get to the best part :B  
> In this chapter I made a small mention to Lupin. One thing that always made me think was why he was never part of Harry’s life, he wasn’t going to be able to be his guardian because of the wolf, but I always thought he could have showed up at the Dursley’s and be a nice uncle, he didn’t even had to talk about magic or that Harry was famous. For me Remus was the kind of guy that could have done it, so why didn’t he? Well, I thought about it and I think it might have been because it hurt too much, I think just like Sirius, he felt guilt, but also, I think he was hurting twice because the wolf didn’t have his animal friends anymore. So in my head he ran, from himself, from what he knew, even from the magic community, I think he got lost of awhile and then things got so hard that he couldn’t pass Dumbledore’s offer, because just like it is for Harry, Hogwarts was HOME for Lupin. Thinking about that, I made a little mention that Dumbledore talked to him, but he won;t show up, He got some desperate help from Severus and ran and that will be it until year 3.  
> We also see Severus been quite nice to Harry with the book thing and although I’m gonna tell you this won’t last, I thought valid to have this moment. I always thought Harry, being alone most of the time, would be the kind of kid to find refugee in books, but eventually the Dursley’s took out all his passion for studying and he became the average student. Now this kind of thing is exactly what happened to Snape, he hid himself in studies and became the very best in potions (just like Harry in defense). So in this part of the story Snape is seeing himself in Harry more than his parents and sometimes the little Lily flashes, so he doesn’t hate the boy yet and he treads him quite nice. I like to think he was like that to the people he liked, that he gave books to help students (Slytherins) he saw were good in something and things like that.  
> Eventually, he will look at Harry and only see James, because for me Snape is not in his right mind every since Lily died and he’s incapable to see Harry as Harry.   
> See ya


	6. The Hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So… it’s been a long time… Again…  
> I’m really sorry it took me this long, my last college semester was crazy, I didn’t have time to even think about this story, then I took a break to organize my thoughts and see what I was going to do. But I’m back now and hopefully chapters will not take this long to come. I know this one was a bit shorted than my usual, the next one will be too, but that only means the next one will came faster for sure.  
> Anyway, thanks again for all the follows and favorites, I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. Please keep sending me feedback! I would love to get a few reviews!!  
> Please, Keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.

Harry woke up with a start, despise being there for a few days now, he was still unaccustomed to the house elf waking him up.

"Typsi is sorry, but Master Snape told Typsi to wake Master Harry Potter for the meeting with the goblins"

"Ah... Thanks" Said Harry still sleepy.

Typsi left with a pop and Harry started to proper wake up and think about what was to come, soon he was going to hear his parents words, he was going to find out what they wanted for him and what was to became of him now that he was out of the Dursley's house. He wondered if his parents wanted him with the Dursleys, if they had known how awful his relatives were. The truth was that Harry had many questions about his parents, he had never seen any pictures and Severus had yet to tell him anything more than "they had magic".

Apart from his past, his future concerned him too, he wasn't worried about where he was going before Draco showed up, but now there was some part of him who wanted to keep friends with the boy and keep the life he had now. He liked having his own room and, despise his strange ways, Severus was a good guardian and Harry could do with spending his days learning and playing with Draco when he came around.

_Things could be easier_

Without much choice, Harry started to change into some formal vests Severus had instructed him to wear at this day and then went down stairs where he knew breakfast would be ready for him.

"Morning" Said Harry when he saw Severus at the table with his morning tea.

"Sit down and eat, we don't want to be late"

Listening to the seriousness in the man's voice, Harry hurried to his chair and started to eat the fruit salad he was instructed to eat in the mornings. There it was something he had got used to: his regular meals full of diversity, with the Dursleys vegetables and fruits were very rare because Dudley and Uncle Vernon didn't like them and they would always end up in Harry's plate, which was good for him, but not what the Dursleys wanted, here he would always eat different things and enough to make him full.

When the two of them where done with breakfast, Severus grabbed Harry's hand and apparated them both to Diagon Alley. Seen the familiar place made Harry smile and forget his apparition sickness a lot faster than the first time.

"Come" Said Severus getting his attention back.

Harry started following him, the place was a lot more crowned than the last time he was there and Harry had to be more careful not to bump into anyone.

"Bloody hell!! Is that Harry Potter?" Asked a bald man in the street all of a sudden.

Harry turned to look at the man, but was pushed back by Severus.

"Don't stop, don't look at anyone" Said the man before grabbing his shoulders and making sure Harry was moving fast enough.

Harry was so enchanted by the magical street that he forgot about what Severus had told him about being well known, it was such a strange concept that he couldn't keep it always on his mind.

Soon they reached a big white building with doors of gold, Harry had seen it the other day, but only now he was really paying attention. The inside was just as impressive as the outside and the goblins were quite interesting to watch, not at all like Harry had imagined them.

"Ah Severus, you're here!" Said a voice from Harry's right.

Looking at it, Harry found an old man dressed in long purple robes and a big hat, he was everything Harry thought a wizard would be, at the same time that he looked like someone's grandfather, with his face serene and a little gleam in his eyes.

"Hello, Harry" Said the man turning to the boy.

"Hummm... Hello" Answered Harry timidly.

"Albus" greated Severus before turning back to Harry "This is professor Albus Dumbledore, he's Hogwarts headmaster"

Harry nodded, he wasn't sure why the man was there, but he accepted it nonetheless.

"Nice to meet you, sir"

The Headmaster looked at him intensively for a short while and then smiled.

"I'm sure the minister will be here shortly, also I told Augusta Longbottom about this meeting" Said Dumbledore looking to Severus.

Not long after that the doors were opened and Lucius Malfoy walked in.

"Dumbledore, Severus, Mr. Potter" Said Lucius in greeting.

The two older man merely nodded, but Harry opened up a smile and waved, leaving all the three man surprised.

"Hello" Said Harry with easy, he was actually happy to see the man, he now knew was Draco's father and since the day before with the boy had been a really nice one, he thought having the father for such a thing as deciding his future would be a good thing. In fact Harry had a small part inside of him, one he wasn't even fully aware of, that wanted the Malfoys to take him in, he knew he was going to live with some other family, most probably a magical one, so even if he wasn't going to admit, he wouldn't be unhappy if that family was Draco's.

Mr. Malfoy smiled smugly, he was very pleased to see his son had in fact made an impact with Potter, something that could be very useful in a not so far future.

Before anymore conversation the minister came in with Madame Bones and Madame Longbottom.

“Augusta! I’m so glad you came” Said Dumbledore smiling.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” Answered Madame Longbottom with a smile herself.

“I wasn’t aware Madame Longbottom had been invited” Said Lucius slightly put off.

“Neither did we, but she told us on the way up here that she saw Mr. Potter here in Diagon Alley and felt she should come” Said Madame Bones skeptical.

“And where such a need came from?”

“Please, Lucius, you know very well how close we were from the Potters, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alice was named his guardian and as her mother-in-law I intend to take him in, and even if not, we’re family” Answered Madame Longbottom looking very displeased with the other man’s very presence.

Lucius did not answer, but instead gave Severus a very displeased glare, making sure the man knew he should have told about the possibility the Longbottons would be present.

“Well, I think we shouldn’t leave the goblins waiting” Said Dumbledore trying to break the tension.

“I absolutely agree” Said Fudge moving forward and walking along Dumbledore.

“Come” Said Severus to Harry, who had been distracted looking at all the exchanges in front of him.

Soon the group was in front of one of the many goblins working.

“Good Morning” Said Dumbledore politely “We have a meeting about the Potter’s will”

The goblin barely took notice of the wizards before he nodded.

“Just a minute” Said the goblin before leaving.

Not five minutes later the goblin came back.

“You will be meeting with Ragnok in meeting room 2, please follow me”

The group of wizards followed the goblin until they were in front of the door named ‘M. Room 2’, the goblin knocked before opening the door. Inside there was a big table and on the head an old looking goblin organizing some papers.

“You may all sit down” Said the old goblin, Ragnok.

All the wizards sat down and looked at the old goblin.

“So this is young Mr. Potter I presume” Said the goblin looking at Harry interested, automatic, the boy sank himself in the chair making the goblin smirk.

“So, the will if you please” Said Fudge getting tired of all the time the goblin was taking to himself.

“Sure” Said the goblin giving Fudge an ugly look “But as I am sure you know, the full will can not be read until Mr. Potter is of age…”

“Yes, yes we know” Said Fudge impatient.

“We only require to know about his guardianship, which is fully allowed to any authority” Said Dumbledore trying to ease the situation between the Goblin and the Minister.

“Right… So at the date of 28 of March, 1986, I, Ragnok, will open the will of Mr. James Potter and Mrs. Lily Evans Potter to verify Mr. Harry James Potter guardianship, as previously agreed” Said the goblin as he wrote the words in a piece of parchment before breaking the seal in the envelop containing the will.

“According to the will signed in 15 of February, 1981 I quote ‘In the case of both of our deaths, Harry shall be placed with his godfather, Sirius Black. In case Sirius also happen to be dead, then Harry shall live with his godmother, Alice Longbottom. If it comes to a moment where none of the people mentioned before are available and the laws about werewolves are still unchanged making Remus Lupin unable to take him, then Harry shall live with any of our friends that still remain in the wizarding world’

A small silence took the room after the goblins words.

“God, that was morbid” Said Madame Bones slightly out of breath.

“Those were hard days” Said Dumbledore with a sad expression on his face.

“Indeed…” Said Fudge also a bit shaken “But shall we settle this matter?”

“Well… all the names mentioned are, as we know, unavailable, but since Madame Longbottom is here in the name of Alice Longbottom then I suppose there isn’t much to discuss” Said Madame Bones.

“It’s strange though, that they did not mentioned Mrs. Potter’s sister, shouldn’t they name family before friends?” Said Lucius neutrally, but sending a small defiant glare at Dumbledore.

“I’m not surprise they dismissed her, the woman didn’t even had the nerve to show up at their wedding, I’m sure Lily never considered that her sister would even take the boy in, in the first place” Said Madame Longbottom giving back the look Lucius gave Dumbledore, she was no silly girl, she knew exactly what the man was up to.

“They also stated they wanted the boy to remain in the wizard world” Said Madame Bones, sharing a discreet knowing look with the other woman.

“Indeed... why did you thought putting him with muggles would be the best for him, Dumbledore?” Said Lucius.

“Well, it was more because they were family than anything else, but the boy could do with a bit of peace before Hogwarts, he doesn’t need all the attention the wizarding world wants to place on him”

“A very… interesting thought” Said Madame Bones.

“Very interesting indeed, but I will make sure the boy knows not to rely on his fame” Said Madame Longbottom very rigid.

“Well… then I think we’re all set?” Said Fudge hopeful, he wasn’t looking forward to the repercussion of the case and wanted at least for the thing itself to be over soon.

“I believe so” Said Dumbledore “How do you feel about it, Harry?”

At hearing his name being called Harry turned surprised, he wasn’t expecting the adults to ask his opinion, that had never happened before and he assumed they would just do whatever they wanted.

“Why can’t I just stay with Severus?” Said Harry before he even realized what he was saying.

All the wizards in the room looked at him stunned, none of them were expecting the boy to express interest in Severus Snape of all people.

“Why do you want to stay with Mr. Snape?” Asked Madame Bones still a little surprised.

“Don’t be silly, the boy doesn’t know what he’s talking about” Said the Minister exasperated.

“Now that’s not true, Cornelio, children are more intelligent than we think” Said Dumbledore trying to calm the man down “Why did you say that, Harry?”

“I… I like where I am… I’ve got books… and a room that is all mine… and I can…” Harry didn’t finish, but looked a bit uncertain to where Mr. Malfoy was sitting, because the truth was that he wanted to see Draco again and thought that only by staying with Snape that would be possible.

“Oh child…” Said Madame Longbottom in a quiet voice “Enchanted by such simple things…”

The adults looked between one another, not really knowing how to react, it was easy to decide for the boy, but it was hard to actually deal with him voicing an opinion, especially one so unexpected.

“Perhaps…” Started Lucius a bit unsure “the boy would indeed be more comfortable in a place he already knows… I mean… he is in such a fragile state, maybe now he need the stability...”

“Which I obviously can’t provide” Said Snape quite rudely “I work full time, I don’t have the time to take care of a child”

“You don’t need to work full time, your classes…”Tried Lucius

“I’m head of Slytherin, that makes me responsible for them full time” Said Snape not wanting to argue about something he felt had no room for discussion.

“If I may” Said Dumbledore quite calm “I think Severus is right, school is not only about classes, he is needed after it too”

“Exactly” Said Snape glad the discussion was over and Lucius idea not taken seriously.

“However” Continued Dumbledore “I think Lucius do have a point”

“Excuse me?” Said Snape in shock, never would he expect to see Dumbledore agreeing with something Lucius Malfoy had to say.

“Harry needs the security of a known home, but most of all he needs the things he's been denied all this time, including have himself heard, acknowledged and attended"

"So..." Started Madame Bones uncertain "what you're saying is that you think Mr. Potter should indeed keep on living with professor Snape?"

"Don't be absurd!" Said the minister wroth.

"Actually that's exactly what I'm suggesting"

"I won't… I... what about my classes?" Said Snape in a mix of fury and confusion.

"You will keep on teaching them..."

"Them what are you..." Interrupted Snape.

"I'm thinking of a joint custody" Declared Dumbledore.

The group kept quiet, staring that Dumbledore as if he had grown another head until Ragnok decided to make himself known again.

"A joint custody can be accepted, but only if the both of them fulfill the requirements”

“What requirements?” Asked Lucius careful.

For a moment Ragnok looked at the wizard around him as if they were completely stupid, but them seem to resign whatever thought he was having and only took the will.

“As I have previously stated, the Potters said _Harry shall live with any of our friends that still remain in the wizarding world,_ which means that both parties must fulfill that wish” Said the goblin loathing a bit at Snape.

“Well, then that won’t be a problem, Severus was friends with Mrs. Potter” Said Lucius with a victory smile.

“That can be hardly considered, they hadn’t talked in years, long before Lily died” Said Madame Longbottom angrily.

“Now that may be, but time don’t erase things that easily, also Lily was very aware that Severus was helping me in the end of the war, a help that included her protection. She was very grateful and happy to know her old friend had come to his senses” Said Dumbledore explanatory.

Severus looked at Dumbledore with the corner of his eyes and trying very hard to not let his face reveal his true feeling, he knew for a fact that Dumbledore was lying, there was no way Lily could be aware of Severus, it had been, after all, part of the conditions between him and Dumbledore when he agreed to help, no one was supposed to know, the old man was no fool to take such a great risk, because Lily would have told her husband about it and Potter would have ruined everything. In fact that had been one of Severus reliefs, to know that Lily would not know that he was the one responsible for putting the Dark Lord after her, the truth only been revealed after her death, on his trial.

Giving a side look to Lucius it was obvious the man did not believe the headmaster, but was hiding it because the lie was working on his favor. Lucius knew Dumbledore quite well, but more than that, he knew Severus very well too, that mixed with all his time and experience with politics made him a very observant man, one who could spot lies well, even from such great man as Dumbledore. _That could be troublesome in the future..._ especially when such talent might be lent to the Dark Lord.

"Is that so?" Asked the goblin a bit doubtful, but smirking, it was quite clear he was amused by the situation.

"He said it to me before" came Harry's desperate voice "right when we first met, he said he knew my mother and Aunt Petunia knew him too"

Everyone looked at Harry for a moment, it was strange to imagine that a child would want to be with Severus Snape of all people, but his testimony was enough to prove the man fit into the will's conditions.

"Very well... It's not our business how you organize the schedule between the two guardians, but we need to know who will be the legal guardian before the bank" Said Ragnok stepping back into business mode.

"Considering the situation I think that would be Severus" Said Dumbledore.

The other wizards were too out of it to complain anymore, so the goblin just wrote something on the parchment and then gave it to Severus.

"You need to sign here"

Severus gave Dumbledore one more look and then signed, he wasn't sure what the man had in mind giving him the Potter child to look after, but he better have a good reason, because despise his neutral outside, Severus was feeling very murderous in the inside.

"Very well..." started Ragnok "I just need you all to sign this as witness and we're done"

The wizards signed the parchment and then stood up. Ragnok barely looked at them as he dismissed them, but he did look a bit at Harry, a small look of curiosity on his eyes.

 "I don't know how things turned out this way" Said the Minister as the group got back to the entrance hall " but I hope this time you can keep a better eye on this, Dumbledore, he's your teacher… and with quite the past"

"Don't worry about it Cornelius, I'm sure Augusta will keep the boy well for us" Said Dumbledore.

"I definitely will" Said the woman stern.

"I'm sure, I'm sure..." Said the Minister almost dismissively "now what else to we need to end this torment?"

"I need both of you and Mr. Potter to sign some papers on monday, but that will be it" Said Madame Bones looking at the two guardians.

"Sure" Said Madame Longbottom before turning to Severus "when can I take him home?"

"Why not on monday when you two will have to meet" Interrupted Dumbledore before Severus could answer "You will not be able to teach monday morning  anyway, might as well keep him until them"

"Sure..." Said Severus slowly, not liking Dumbledore's interference one bit.

Not too soon the Minister dismissed himself and went away.

"Well… I better go too" Started Lucius "I'm sure Draco will like to hear the good news, he's been worried with the perspective of not been able to see Mr. Potter until they are both in Hogwarts… in fact I think we could arrange something for sunday… perhaps?"

Severus looked at Lucius for a bit longer than necessary, but in the end nodded, he could worry about Lucius proximity another time.

Lucius gave them a pleased smile and left after a word of parting. The four remaining wizards kept the silence for a while longer, waiting to see who would ask the question still buzzing on their heads: _why?_

It was with a soft sigh that Dumbledore got their attention.

“At least this is over without much problems” Said Dumbledore.

“Yes… but not for long” Started Madame Bones looking at the doors Lucius had gone through not long ago “I very much doubt that Lucius will keep this quiet, Fudge might be a fool, but Malfoy is not, he has a plan” She turned back to look at Dumbledore “which bring us to the question: why keep Mr. Potter anywhere near him?”

Dumbledore looked into space contemplative for a while, but Severus burning glare made him sigh again.

“When Lily died she set up a protection around Harry” Hearing his mother’s name, Harry turned to look at the adults, paying attention to every word “the protection runs in his blood, but also in those who share Lily’s blood”

“Her sister” Said Madame Bones

“Yes. Petunia knew how important it was to keep him, for his safety and for hers and her family, as long as Harry lived there, that place would be like a sanctuary”

“Oh my… that’s why you didn’t want to take him away!” Said Madame Bones with wide eyes.

“Yes, unfortunately that wasn’t an information I could share with Lucius Malfoy”

“It still doesn’t explain why you want me to keep him, you can keep an eye on him at the Longbottoms” Said Snape almost impatient, he already knew about the protections on Privet Drive.

“Indeed you’re right, Severus, except that I’m not looking for just a way to keep an “eye on him” but to keep Lily’s protection working”

“But that’s gone since we took him”

“It should have, but it’s not, the house is still protected as is Mr. Potter”

“How?”

“I don’t know for sure, but my great guess is that the fact that Petunia gave him to _you_ made that happen… because she knows you and despise the situation she gave some kind of permission for him to be taken. As long as you have him, Severus, the protection won’t go”

Silence followed Dumbledore’s words.

“And you sure he can be trusted?” Asked Madame Longbottom looking intensively at Dumbledore’s eyes.

“Absolutely”

She nodded at him and turned to the other two.

“Well, I will see you on monday, she shall discuss arrangements there” Then she turned to Harry, being the first time someone had acknowledged him in awhile “I will make everything ready for you on monday, Harry, I’m sure you will love our house and Neville will be happy to have such good company”

“Ah.. thank you ma’am” Said Harry unsure, but respectful.

“Well, I better go too, I’ll see you on Monday, Mr. Snape” Said Madame Bones.

As the two women were finally gone, Snape turned full force to Dumbledore.

“Why didn’t you tell about the change in the wards?”

“There was no time”

Snape made a displeased noise and tried to keep his voice down.

“You can’t be serious expecting me to look after the brat…”

“I’m not asking you to father him, Severus, only that you keep him on your house, I’m sure the Longbottoms will take care of the family aspect”

“Yeah, they will turn him into a spoiled brat”

“Well, I’m sure you can keep him in line, you will have him three days a week to correct that after all”

“What about my classes?” Asked Snape starting to get in a full mood.

“Didn’t know you enjoyed that so much….” Started Dumbledore skeptic.

“That’s not what…”

“But I’m sure we can rearrange your schedule so your free periods will be on friday, you can teach morning classes and pick up Harry after lunch, ready for the weekend”

“What about my slytherins?”

“We’ll work it out, we’ll talk on monday” Said Dumbledore before dismissing himself and leaving a furious professor behind.

 

**\--**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter  
> So this chapter was a bit tricky since so much goes on so fast, but I’m quite satisfied with it.  
> If it wasn’t clear, it was Lucius plan to take Harry as his ward and with that be able to mold him as a dark wizard. Still, noticing things wasn’t going accordingly, he preferred the boy closer as possible, so with Severus it is.  
> Severus on the other side, is not very found of chil-dren and despise his initial good relationship with Harry and his neutral but consistent presence in Draco’s life, Severus had no intention to be a father, so adopting a child was not at all expected, in fact he was looking forward to have Harry been taken from him.   
> Severus let himself see his childhood in Harry and that is something he hates, with the boy gone all of those feeling with go too and by the time Harry was back in Hogwarts it would be like it was always supposed to be. But now Harry is staying and the persistence of those feeling will lead Snape to start even earlier what he has always done in canon: Look of James Potter in Harry even when there’s nothing there.  
> Harry for his part is not aware of the fact his current guardian might not like to keep him for long term, the only thing he’s concerned with is the fact he finally have a friend and he doesn’t want to be separated from him. So Draco’s words last chapter, asking Harry if he could not stay, did affect Harry for him to actually voice his desires.  
> Now, about Dumbledore, we see him in this chapter a lot more closer to the Dumbledore we see in Snape’s memories in DH and I really like that, I think that’s the Dumbledore that takes care of serious business, like deciding Harry’s life. I’m not doing a bad Dumbledore here, but we can’t deny that even in canon he was a very manipulative man. Dumbledore said to Harry on book 5 that he knew the Dursleys wouldn’t be perfect, but he still expected a little bit more, since the word he used were: “you arrived at Hogwarts, neither as happy nor as well-nourished as I would have liked, perhaps, yet alive and healthy” This means Dumbledore didn’t expect them to be abusive even though he expected them to be awful. That is what I’m going with.  
> Therefor Dumbledore’s plan failed when they fond out about the abuse, but he still needed another plan to keep Harry alive for next 6 years until Hogwarts. In my vision, Augusta Longbottom was a person that lived throght the remains of the fame Dumbledore got from defeating Grindewald, so she still believed a lot in him, making the Longbottoms a family Dumbledore could work with closely. That is why he had no problems with letting them have Harry.   
> But he already knew the wards around privet drive were still there, so he made his theory and he needed a way to keep Harry with Snape. Know we all know Dumbledore like to have at least a gleam of what people are thinking, so I believe he would check up on Harry and that’s why he asked the boy to speak up.   
> The joint custody was Dumbledore best plan so far, for he( and I ) are done with the Dursleys quite yet, a blood ward like that could come in handy in the future.


	7. The Ministry of Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I wasn’t going to leave such a gap between chapters this time, but I few in love with another plot and that ruined it all. In fact I have like 4 plots running around my head right now, I’m not sure if I’m going to right any, I really shouldn’t actually, but let’s see what happens.  
> Anyway, thanks again for all the follows and favorites, I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. BUT PLEASE REVIEW, You have no idea how much different it feels to have a written feedback.  
> Please, Keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon, read my end notes.
> 
> PS: EVERYTHING IN ITALIC WAS COPIED FROM HP BOOK FIVE, BUT PLEASE DON’T SKIP IT, THERE ARE A FEW MODIFIED LINE AMONG IT, SOME OF THEM IMPORTANT!! If you want to know I copied it, just read my end notes!

By the time Severus got back home, he had no desire to even look at the Potter boy. Never in his life he felt any desire to become a father, he barely tolerated his students and he had always kept distance from other people's children. Sure he was quite close to Draco, but that was only on the rare occasions he went to visit the Malfoys and their relationship was very polite and distant. He would eventually give the boy a present, have some tea together or walk around the gardens, nothing much, and then talk a bit about whatever the boy thought was "grown up conversation".

Now, with the perspective of taking care of Potter for the next five years, he felt angry at Dumbledore, at accepting once again to do as he wished, but more than anything, he felt angry at Potter for tormenting him with this. He wasn’t supposed to raise the boy, he wasn’t supposed to even look at him before he was eleven and now he would have to take care of the damned child.

A small part of him felt like he was being unfair, it wasn’t the boy’s fault that he was in that situation (even if he HAD asked to stay with Severus), also the boy was Lily’s son and he owed her, but the mere thought that he was also Potter’s ruined it all. He was going to be forced to witness as he boy turned into an arrogant bastard just like his father (and that definitely was going to happen because he would be living most of the time with the Longbottoms, who would worship the ground he stepped on).

But what really angered Severus was the fact that for a little while he actually felt sorry for the boy, he saw himself in it, forgetting that he was a Potter and only seeing the beaten up boy who lived in a cupboard. He shouldn’t have being so stupid……

Taking one more deep breath, Severus swore to himself that he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

\--

Harry wasn’t sure what he did wrong, but he knew he must have done something because Severus behavior had changed too much too fast. The man had barely looked at him and wouldn't talk to him more than necessary, it was almost as if he was angry at him all the time.

So for the next two days, Harry remained in his room as much as possible, trying to stay away from any trouble, in his mind there was only one thought: that either he was wrong and Severus never liked him and was mad at Harry for asking to stay or he just got bored of him already, maybe he was as useless as his Uncle said he was and even someone _like him_ did not want him…

The only thing that told Harry that not all was lost was Lucius showing up Saturday night to arrange a meeting between Harry and Draco, so even if Severus did not like him, it seemed that he would at least be able to keep Draco. With that little hope in mind, Harry waited all morning, for the moment Draco would show up, hoping the other boy would be as friendly with him as he was before.

It was after lunch that a noise came from the fireplace and soon a boy with blond hair came from it.

“Hello Uncle Severus” Said Draco polite as always.

The man nodded and turned to Harry.

“I have work to do, so I need you two to stay upstairs and quiet”

“Yes, Sir” Answered Harry still uneasy with the man.

Severus soon dismissed himself and left the two boys behind in the room.

“What’s got into him?” Said Draco frowning at his Uncle’s attitude.

Harry looked to the floor not knowing how to answer.

“I think he’s mad at me” Admitted Harry.

“Why?”

“Because I asked to stay here”

Draco frowned a bit more and thought for a moment.

“My father said Uncle Sev looked a bit upset on the hearing, but because of Dumbledore, maybe he still is, Mother says he’s always holding grudges”

“Yeah… maybe...” Harry wasn’t much convinced by his friend’s words, but they did feel a bit comforting and in that moment it was enough.

The two went to Harry’s room to talk and Draco was anxious to hear everything about the hearing that his father had not told him, he knew a bit about Harry having to live a few days with the Longbottons, he was actually very displeased by that, but it was a lot like Dumbledore to favor one of his own.

“But do you know why Dumbledore accepted?” Asked Draco when Harry mentioned how Dumbledore supported his choice to stay with Severus, that was something even his father didn’t know and he was really curious.

“I’m not sure, something about a protection in my blood, he said that since my Aunt gave Severus permission to take me, so the protection is still working”

“Wait, what is that about protection?”

“I don’t know… that’s just what Dumbledore said… something my mum set up for me”

“Interesting, I will ask my father about it”

Harry was about to agree when something came back to him.

_“Yes, unfortunately that wasn’t an information I could share with Lucius Malfoy”_

“You can’t” Said Harry

“Why not? what’s wrong with telling my father?” Asked Draco a bit taken aback.

“Dumbledore said your father couldn’t know about that”

“That’s because he doesn’t like my father!” Said Draco a bit mad.

“But what if something goes wrong because of that?”

“What could possibly go wrong?”

“I don’t know…”

Harry looked at Draco a bit upset, his friend was mad at him and he wanted to make things right.

“I’m just worried they gonna take me away from here forever and I will never see you again” Said Harry in a quiet voice.

“What does one thing have to do with another?” Asked Draco confused and less mad.

“They said the protection was still working because my Aunt let Severus take me, it wasn’t supposed to, so... it’s like she let him borrow me, if anything goes wrong, I might have to go back to them…” Harry wasn’t much certain if he was making much sense, although he had many thought about the situation and the protection the adults had mentioned, he never really put his thoughts together on a theory, that just came to him.

“That’s not gonna happen! I won’t let them!” Said Draco.

“Then let’s keep this a secret ok?”

“Ok, it will be our secret, they won’t take you from me”

Draco grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes with certainty and Harry let himself believe his words. In that moment he knew he made the right choice to stay.

—

Just like on the day of the hearing, Harry was awakened by the house elf early on the morning, told to dress and to be down as soon as possible.

“Finally! I want to be out of the ministry as soon as possible” Said Severus as soon as he saw Harry downstairs.

Harry didn’t reply, he was still uneasy with the man, so he just sat down and started eating the breakfast that was there for him.

“Typsi!” Called Severus.

“Master” Said the elf as he popped into the room.

“Go upstair, pack all of Mr. Potter’s belongings, he won’t be living here any longer, leave only a few change of clothes in case it’s needed on his eventual returns” Said Severus to the elf who, despise the sad look in Harry’s direction, did not say a thing before bowing and leaving.

Harry kept himself silent, but he couldn’t shake the feeling for rejection, he knew Severus didn’t want him, but now he knew for sure, because the man had finally admitted that he wasn’t a resident anymore, he was only a guest. Harry knew the moment he left the Dursleys that he was homeless, that he would never have a place to call home again, but it never felt this real before, he was supposed to be a guest on the house he was going and have a home with his guardian, but if in both place he was a guest, than he was still homeless. It seemed that people were right when they said dreams were better than reality, because in his dreams those who took him away always wanted him, but now it looked like nobody did.

“Wake up boy, you need to eat so we can leave” Said Severus noticing Harry deep in thoughts.

“Sorry, Sir”

Harry finished his breakfast as fast as he could and soon Severus grabbed the bag Typsi brought down and apparated the two to London, close to the ministry’s visitor’s entry. Having just finished a meal made Harry’s stomach protest against the apparition, and he ended up on the floor with a bit of vomit falling from his mouth. Rolling his eyes, Severus helped the boy stand and with a spell cleaned him up, leaving a clean, but weird taste on Harry’s mouth.

“Come on boy, we don’t have all day” Said Severus rushing Harry to get inside a red phone box.

Inside the phone box, Severus grabbed a piece of paper from his robes and started dialing a few numbers in the phone. _As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not on the receivers, but as loudly and plainly as though an invisible woman were standing right beside them._

_“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business”_

“Severus Snape and Harry Potter, here to see Madame Bones, from Magical Law Enforcement” Said Severus to the air.

_“Thank you” Said the cool female voice “Visitors, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes”_

_There was a click and a rattle, and Harry saw something slide out of the   metal chute where returned coins usually appeared._ Severus _picked it up: it was_ two _square silver badge with_ Severus Snape, Law Enforcement Visitor, and Harry Potter, Law Enforcement Visitor _on it._ Severus pinned it to the front of his and Harry’s clothes _as the female voice spoke again._

_"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."_

_The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were sinking slowly into the ground. Harry watched apprehensively as the pavement seemed to rise up past the glass windows of the telephone box until darkness closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at all; he could hear only a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth. After about a minute, though it felt much longer to Harry, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes watering._

_"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day" said the woman's voice._

_The door of the telephone box sprang open and_ Severus stepped out of it, followed by Harry, whose eyes were so big it looked like it was about to pop out of his face.

_They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing like some enormous heavenly noticeboard. The walls on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh. On the right-hand side, short queues were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart._

_Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of their wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblins hat and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of the Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the hall._

"This way" Said Severus impatient

 _They joined the throng, wending their way between the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases; still others were reading the Daily Prophet while they walked. As they passed the fountain Harry saw_ silver and bronze coins _glinting up at him from the bottom of the pool. A small smudged sign beside it read:_

 _ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN WILL BE GIVEN TO ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES._       

 _"Over here" said Snape and they stepped out of the stream of Ministry employees heading for the golden gates. Seated at a desk to the left, beneath a sign saying Security_ , a bald wizard in dark blue robes _looked up as they approached and put down his Daily Prophet._

"We have an appointment with Madame Bones" said Said Snape impatient with the man.

_"Step over here," said the wizard in a bored voice._

_The wizard held up a long golden rod, thin and flexible as a car aerial, and passed it up and down_ Severus's _front and back._

"Wand," grunted the security wizard putting down the golden instrument   and holding out his hand.

Snape produced his wand. _The wizard dropped it on to a strange brass instrument, which looked something like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and read the writing on it._

After the man confirmed the wand information and gave it back to Severus, he looked at Harry.

“Step here, kid” Said the man

He did the same thing with the golden rod and declared the both clean to go, but as Harry was stepping away from him the man gasped.

"Hang on ..." said the wizard slowly.

His eyes had darted from the silver visitors badge on Harry's chest to his forehead.

“It would be wise for you to keep silence” Said Snape in a warning tone

“So it’s true then?” Asked the man in astonishment

“What is true?” Asked Severus confused.

“About his muggle relatives, it’s been all over the Prophet this morning” Said the man showing Severus his copy of the Prophet.

Indeed right on the front page was a big picture of Dumbledore with the headline: “Boy-Who-Lived in danger! Dumbledore placed him with magic haters”. Severus cursed Lucius in his mind and gave the Prophet back to the man.

“As you can see the boy has had enough, maybe it would be wise to keep his presence unknown”

“Yeah! Sure!” Said the man nodding frantically.

 _Grasping Harry by the shoulder,_ Severus _steered him away from the desk and back into the stream of wizards and witches walking through the golden gates._

 _Jostled slightly by the crowd, They walked through the gates into the smaller hall beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind wrought golden grilles._ Snape and Harry _joined the crowd around one of them._

 _With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back and they stepped into the lift with the rest of the crowd and Harry found himself jammed against the back wall. Several witches and wizards were looking at him curiously,_ it wasn’t everyday a child was around, so Harry stared at his feet to avoid catching anyone's eye while Severus tried to protect him from view. _The grilles slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling, while the same cool female voice Harry had heard in the telephone box rang out again._

_"Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office."_

_The lift doors opened. Harry glimpsed an untidy-looking corridor, with various posters_ of people in flying brooms _tacked lopsidedly on the walls. One of the wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of broomsticks, extricated himself with difficulty and disappeared down the corridor. The doors closed, the lift juddered upwards again and the woman's voice announced:_

_"Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparation Test Centre."_

_Once again the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards got out._

_"Level Five, Department of International Magical Co-operation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."_

_When the doors opened,_ two more witches left.

_"Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau."_

_"S'cuse,"_ said a wizard carrying a big box.

_"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."_

Harry contained a grow as he saw one more flow go without them getting out, the lift was empty except for him and Severus, so he hoped that was a sign they were close. _The lift juddered upwards again, then the doors opened and the voice made its announcement._

_"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."_

"Finally" said Snape _as he went out of the lift into a corridor lined with doors._

Severus walked a bit looking for Madame Bones office, but without much patience he turned to one of the workers on the tables close by.

“Where is Madame Bones office?”

The man seemed started with the voice before turning his attention to Severus.

“Professor Snape! What a surprise” Said the man

“Weasley” Said Snape in recognition.

“How are my boys?” Said Weasley smiling.

“In class, I hope. The office?” Said Snape losing his patience with the man.

“Right. Through that corridor, second door on the left” Said Weasley still trying to be nice.

Severus only nodded and kept going, but Harry did look at the man with curiosity. Mr Weasley saw Harry looking at him and recognition came upon him, so he gave the boy a sad smile and a wave before Harry hurried after Snape.

\--

Madame Bones was preparing the guardianship paperwork when a knock came from her door.

“Come in”

Snape and Harry stepped inside the office and were greeted by the woman.

“It’s good to see you again, Harry” Said the woman smiling and Harry only gave her a shy smile himself “Sit down, Severus, we have a few things to discuss and Augusta should be here really soon.

Severus walked to the offered chair and Harry was about to follow him when he notice a little girl sitting in the flow in the attached room.

“Potter” Said Severus calling his attention.

Harry gave the girl one more look before approaching the table, Madame Bones, noticing where the boy’s eyes were, smiled a little.

“That’s my niece, Susan” Said the woman to Harry “You can go talk to her if you want, we’ll only talk adult business here”

Harry looked uncertain for a moment and then looked at Severus for permission, which the man gave with an impatient nod. Harry walked to the other room, there wasn’t much in there, giving the girl a lot of space, there was a little radio on the far back and a big carpet where the girl was sitting surrounded by plastic blocks.

“Oh… Hi!” Said the girl when she noticed Harry standing close by.

“Humm.. hi!” Said Harry nervous.

“Humm.. I’m Susan” The girl said with a smile.

“I’m Harry”

“Nice to meet you… humm…” The girl looked around, on the other room she could see a man with her Aunt and realized the boy was probably waiting for whatever business was going on to be over “Well… I’ve got some block… do you want to play with me?”

Harry was a bit started, surprised by the invitation.

“For real?”

“Yeah! I’m trying to build a castle” Said the girl getting excited.

Harry smiled at her and sat down. It seemed like they were going to build a castle.

\--

Harry and Susan spend a long time together playing with the blocks and talking about all the things that popped up in Susan’s head, she was a very energetic redhead, with a carefree attitude Harry had always envied in other kids at school. The good part was that just like him, Susan also had a muggle background, so it was quite relieving to be able to talk about cartoons or Disney movies instead to the magical topics that he talked with Draco.

“You’re really good with reading if you can read the whole book, Aunt Amy still has to ready to me most of it” Said Susan after hearing Harry had read the entire Dr. Seuss book he got from Severus.

“I used to read a lot at my Aunt and Uncle’s and I found out that if I don’t know a word I can just skip it and still understand the story”

“I will try that!”

They were having a very good time when Madame Bones approached the door.

“Susan, Love, I’ll need Harry now” Said the woman sweetly.

The two looked at each other a bit uncertain, but then Harry stood up, giving one last look to the village they’ve been building. Susan stood up too, but stopped at the door, looking at the adults inside with curiosity, the man from earlier was still there, but now accompanied by an older woman in eccentric clothing the kids had not noticed coming in.

“Harry, I want you to sit down here, so I can tell you what me and your guardians have decided, ok?” Said Madame Bones directing Harry to a chain.

“Hello, Harry” Said Augusta Longbottom looking at Harry as he sat down.

“Hello, ma’am” Said Harry shyly.

“Ok, Harry, so Severus and Augusta have signed the papers to become your legal guardians in a shared regime, do you understand what that means?” Said Madame Bones looking at Harry carefully.

“Kind of, yeah”

“What do you understand of it?”

“Humm.. they both will have to take care of me”

“Yes, that’s correct. As we agreed with the goblins, Severus will be your main guardian, so in the end, he has the last word on things that concern you, ok?”” She waited until he nodded to continue “But Augusta will have authority whenever she’s with you on her care. That been said, you will be living with the Longbottoms from Monday to Friday, Severus will pick you up after lunch on Friday and you two will spend the weekend together, ok?”

Harry nodded one more time and she stepped aside to talk to the others.

“Well then… I think this is it”

Severus nodded and stood up.

“Well, then I shall return to Hogwarts, I will talk to Dumbledore about making sure the press don’t find out where he will be”

“I very much dumb Dumbledore will be able to do anything considering how bad things look his way, but it’s good if he at least try, we’ll try our best in this end” Said Madame Bones

Severus gave one look to Harry and then left without saying anything else. Harry, who had being left like that many times by the Dursleys, did not react to the man’s departure, even if some part of him felt a bit disappointed.

“That cold damn bastard… I really don’t understand Dumbledore sometimes...” Said Augusta shaking her head in disapproval.

“Well… nothing more that we can do about it” Said Madame Bones with disapproval, but not disgust.

“Indeed” Said Augusta standing up “I will take Harry home them, it was nice seeing you, Amelia, thank you for all the help” The two women shared a brief hug and Augusta turned to Harry “Let’s go home, Harry”

Harry nodded, but gave one quick look to Susan, who still stood in the doorway to the other room.

“I see you’ve made a friend there” Said Augusta.

“Did you two have fun, love?” Asked Amelia to her niece.

“Yeah!” Said the girl smiling 

“I’m sure we can arrange something, they both could do with a friend” Said Amelia looking at Augusta.

“Yes, I’m sure, let Harry get settled and we will arrange something”

“For real?” Asked Susan opening a big smile.

“Yes, Love” Said Amelia.

“Do you always bring her with you?” Asked Augusta.

“No, she usually stays with Emily’s muggle brother, but both his son and his wife got a terrible cold and he just got a baby, so I’m with her for awhile, but there’s just so much she can do here”

“Poor thing… We’ll talk soon” Said Augusta before grabbing Harry by the hand and directing him to the door.

And with a last wave between him and Susan, he was gone.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter
> 
> So, we finally see Severus noticing the path his relationship with Harry was taking and then rejecting it.
> 
> I know that’s really sad, but as I said before, this is not a story where Snape is nice to Harry like a mentor/father figure. Although I love those stories, this one is about a more bitter Snape no capable of that quite yet. 
> 
> Obviously the fact Harry knew Severus as a child will shift a few things from canon, but I still want Snape to follow his original path. Eventually it will all make sense.  
> Harry, for his part, will feel really bad with Severus new attitude, specially because he still fears he might be send back to the Durs-leys. Being only five memory will not be there forever, the ghost of them will and Harry having the Dursleys always in the back of his mind will one day be important. That’s all I will say.
> 
> Another thing we see now It’s Harry and Draco’s need for each other, the fact that they want to remain together is what will help them fight the things that say they need to stay apart. A small mention to Draco’s father as a danger was made, but it will come back more forceful.
> 
> This first part about their childhood is not just about showing how they became friends, they will gain some of the weapons they will need to fight in the future. There will be problems with them staying together now just like in the future, so we will see how things go now when the problems are on adults around the and then move to the problems being themselves in the Hogwarts years.
> 
> As you probably noticed a big part of this chapter is actually a slightly modified copy from Harry’s visit of the Ministry in book five, but the thing is, I think those details were important and I didn’t want to just paraphrase it, it wouldn’t have the same effect of seeing it for the first time if it was paraphrased. Sorry if it bothers you.
> 
> There was a few mentions of Dumbledore in this chapter, since the story is mostly in Harry’s point of view, we won’t know everything that’s going on, it will be kind of a background thing, but it will be explained when it has consequences.  
> I also thought it would be nice to see Mr. Weasley in this chap-ter, he works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office which is part of Law Enforcement, so it made sense. We will see Weasleys one more time before Hogwarts, but so far they aren’t really important, it’s just nice to have them.
> 
> And we finally see Susan!! She might not be important for you, but she’s important for me, I spend a lot of time thinking about her character, she’s not exactly a original, but we don’t know a lot about her either, so I had to build her up around what we know and what she will mean in this story.
> 
> Neville and the Longbottoms are the next chapter and Susan will have a bigger introduction one really soon so I will finally have all the pieces presented, I will have a few more to show how this little group of kids work so I can start skipping time.


	8. The Longbottoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I’m so so sorry about this huge gap, I was meaning to update for months, but then life was weird and I just couldn’t focus on this and then I was going to update early this month, but my computer died and I had to fix it so only now I have it back to normal.  
> I’m not going to promise to update soon, I know I won’t, but I promise to try not to have such big gaps between chapters. Also I can already tell you the next chapter will be a LOT bigger than this one.  
> That said, I want to thank again for all the follows and favorites, I really appreciated and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story. BUT PLEASE REVIEW, You have no idea how much different it feels to have a written feedback.  
> Please, Keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me, I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen.  
> So let’s get on with this and if you’re interest on reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon or my writing process, read my end notes.

It was after the terrible sensation of apparition that Harry took notice of the place he had landed, it was a beautiful field of very green grass and in the distance it was possible to see a big mansion with shrubs and flowers on its entrance, it was as if instead of moving places he had stepped in another time.

"Welcome to our estate, Harry. this will be your home from now on" said Augusta, taking his hand to keep moving forward.

Harry didn't answer, too much in shock by the beauty and grandiosity of the place he was now going to live in. As they moved closer, the pair walked what was probably the best garden Harry had ever seen, not even comparable with Aunt Petunia's attempt of a garden, it was full of flowers of all colors and a sweet smell that permeated the entire place, there were Stone paths that led to other places Harry could not see and the big water fountain on the center.

"Topper" Said Augusta all of a sudden and a small house elf with blue shoes popped right in front of them.

"My lady" Said the elf bowing

"Tell Algie we're here"

"Yes, my lady"

Harry kept looking a bit longer to the spot the elf was before, his demeanor and looks was very different than Tipsy and he felt quite intrigued by it. Not long after the elf was gone, a couple and a boy Harry recognized as the one he met before came out of the front doors, waiting expectantly as Harry approached them.

“So that’s Harry Potter…” Said the older man with a big smile and a russian accent walking forward to get closer “Well… I’m Algie and that’s my wife, Enid, we’re  Neville’s great-uncles. It’s very nice to meet you, Harry”

Harry was a bit nervous what to do, but extended his hand to accept the man’s.

“Nice to meet you too, Sir”

“What a polite little boy” Said the woman, Enid.

“It seems that despise it all at least his relatives could teach him manners” Said Augusta.

“Oh… those horrible people” Said Enid shaking her head.

“Oh come on you two, cheer up or you gonna scare the boys” Said Algie to the two woman before turning to Harry and getting down on one knee to be at his level ““Don’t look so worried Harry, we’re gonna make sure you’re alright and you gonna have lots of fun here with Neville, you remember him, right?”

Harry gave a quick look to the boy who was still behind his Aunt and then nodded.

“Good, so how about we go inside so you can see the house, see your room…?”

Harry looked at the man and smiled before nodding.

“Come on in then” Said Algie before standing up and grabbing Harry’s bag that was on the floor close to Augusta “Let’s go to your room first so we can drop this off”

The group walked inside and Harry could finally see that the house was as beautiful inside as it was outside, the entrance hall wasn’t extremely large, but it was lofty, with a cream color on its walls that blended with the details  in marble. They went up the stairs to a large corridor that lead to many door.

“See that door over there?” Said Algie pointing to his left, at a door in the end of the corridor “It’s my room, if you turn, two doors down, it’s Augusta’s room. Your’s and Neville’s are over here”

Algie turned right and guided the group through another corridor of doors.

“This is Neville’s room and that one is yours, this door in the middle is a bathroom, there are doors inside your room that will connect you to it too, but unfortunately you will have to share with Neville. We couldn’t put you in the other rooms because the other bathroom doesn’t work, we got an enchanted ivy on the pipes” Said Algie with humor.

“We could have gotten rid of it if you had listened to me and done it before it grew so much” Said Augusta in an annoyed voice.

“Yeah… yeah… yeah…… I know… but I wanted to know what it would do! and anyway, sharing a bathroom it’s not the end of the world”” Answered Algie a bit annoyed himself, making his accent thick.

“The door on the end of the corridor is a playroom, I’m sure you and Neville will be able to have great fun together. For now there’s only Neville’s toys there, but we’ll get you some of your own” Said Enid with a smile to the boys and a warning look to her husband.

The group got inside the room prepared for Harry, there wasn’t much inside but a large bed, a dresser and a desk with a chair, the walls were the same creamy color of the rest of the house and the curtains covering the big window were white, leaving the room as a comfortable place, but without any life.

“We didn’t know who to decorate it, so we left it quite empty until you can decide on what you want” Said Algie walking to the dresser to leave the bag next to it and to pick up the only personal item in the room “But we did bring you something to start with”

Harry grabbed the picture frame the man was giving to him and was faced with the picture of two boys, one not much older than the other, both with big smiles on their faces and waving frantically. What stuck though was the fact that one of the boys was very familiar to Harry, in fact it looked a lot like him, the eyes were another color and the skin was darker, but they had the same face and the same messy hair. Silent tears fell down Harry’s face, he had never before seen any glimpse of his parents, but right there was something he could recognize, a face like his own, some slight resemblance of family that he never had with the Dursleys.

“Oh Harry, please don’t cry” Said Enid hugging the boy.

“Thanks for the picture” Said Harry trying to dry his tears in his hands.

“You’re welcome, Harry, we tried to find more, but most of it are with Alice’s belonging and sincerely, we never really had the heart to go through it, we found that one in one of our albums from Frank’s childhood, but that was it”

“It’s fine, thank you”

Harry looked a bit more to the picture, trying to absorb as much as possible and the adults respected his space for a bit.

“Well, how about we show you the rest of the house? You and your father will have a lot of time together I’m sure” Said Algie in a cheer up voice after some time had passed.

Felling a lot more happy and light, Harry smiled at the man and nodded, joining them at a tour to the house.

As expected, the place was bigger than anything Harry had ever seen, they had on the upper floor one big room, they called a “family room” with large couches and a lot of space to do a lots of things, a piano laid in a corner and some vases of plants decorated the place along with part of the ivy that although irritated Augusta, did in fact make the wall look a lot more pretty. From the balcony Harry could see the beauty of the back garden, just as impressive as the front, and a little greenhouse Algie claimed to be his personal project. On the floor below Harry was presented to all kinds of rooms that he would be allowed to explore on the years to come, the more impressive one being the library, filled with all kinds of books, some about magic, some pure literature, including some muggle classics that Augusta said had been her husband’s favorites.

After the long tour, the group stopped by the kitchen, where the smell of lunch was everywhere, making Harry hungry. Augusta insisted that they went there so Harry could meet the house elves, she wanted the little creatures to tread the boy as one of the masters of the house and all of them were amazed by the opportunity to serve Harry Potter, something the boy himself didn't understand very well.

The group then went to the dining room to have lunch, Harry was offered more food than ever before and Algie would constantly tease his wife to try to make her eat more, for which Augusta would roll her eyes, but give small smile from time to time, giving Harry the impression that although she got mad at Algie for his silliness, she was also very fond of the man.

With his belly stuffed Harry was sent back to his room, where he was supposed to organize his things around the room and spend some time with Neville, get to know the boy better and all of that. Truth was that needer of the boys knew how to make friends, it was quite a strange situation to suddenly have someone else living with you and the two were feeling very shy. Still, Harry invited Neville inside his room when they got upstairs, but that was as far as they went for a while, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“Humm… you can put your clothes on the dresser… if you want” Said Neville nervous and looking at the floor.

“Yeah… I will do that…” Said Harry agreeing but not really moving.

“Do you like your room?”

“Yeah… it’s really big””

Neville, not actually knowing what to do, looked around the empty room, noticing the picture frame on top of the dresser.

“I told Uncle Algie that you never saw a picture of you parents, he spend a lot of time looking for that picture, so you would feel more welcomed” Said Neville a bit quit.

Harry didn’t answer immediately, he walked to the dresser and picked up the picture, looking at the smiling face of the boy his father was, and then looked up to stare at Neville.

“Thank you”

The two smiled shyly to one another.

“Do you want help to organize your things? we can play after” Said Neville a bit more confident.

“Sure”

\--

In the end the boys never finished putting Harry’s things on the dresser because they got too involved in the book about plants that Severus got on the muggle book shop. Neville was a big fan of plants and he loved the book Harry was showing him because it was full of pictures that illustrated all the steps of growing a plant, sure the pictures didn’t move like wizard’s did, but it was still very helpfull, the library didn’t have any books with so many pictures. The two spend a lot of time talking about their experiences with plants, Harry had dealt with a lot of his Aunts flowers and Neville had been secretly helping Algie to grow the ivy in the bathroom across the hall.

It was without noticing that the two spend hours together, only realising time had passed when Enid knocked on the door to invite them to the afternoon tea. Harry wasn’t familiar with the concept with afternoon tea, being lucky if he ate three time a day, but he soon was in love with the idea that a family would sit together to have tea and desserts and simply spend some time together.

“You two look closer, what did you do all this time? Did you finished organizing your things, Harry?” Asked Enid as she stepped in the Family Room with the boys.

“Not… quite” Said Harry embarrassed.

At the far end of the room Algie laughed turning from the window to look at the boys.

“What did you do then?” Asked the man smiling.

“Uncle Algie, Harry has books about plants! it’s really incredible” Said Neville

“Harry knows how to read?” Asked Enid a bit surprised.

“He does, he reads really well” Said Neville turning to his Aunt

“Then this means we’re late with your education, maybe you should use the opportunity to learn” Said Augusta hispid not looking away from her tea.

“No need for that, he’s just five” Said Algie

“Still” Answered Augusta giving Algie a pointed look.

“How did you learn how to read so fast, Harry? Do you understand everything that you read?” Asked Enid

“I learned at school… I used to spend a lot of time reading, so I learned a not faster than my classmates, sometimes I don’t know a word, but I just skip it and keep reading, usually it makes sense without the word. When it doesn’t I ask my teacher” Said Harry.

“I see… Algie and I teach Neville at home, but he doesn’t read a lot yet” Said Enid calmly, not sounding like she was judging Neville or anything “what else did you learned at school?”

“We were doing letters on our notebooks and… we’re learning how to count big numbers! And we’re learning about plants and small garden animals” Said Harry slowly so he could remember everything, now that he actually thought of it, school felt like months ago, but it had only been a week. In fact it was monday, he was supposed to go back today…. he wondered what his Aunt told his teacher…

“I see... “ Said Enid taking Harry from his thoughts “I’m sure we can pick up from there, it might even be good to direct Neville’s study”

“I’m not going back to school?” Asked Harry

“No, love, Algie and I will teach you here, with Neville” Said Enid kindly, worried the boy missed that part of his old life.

“Did you like school Harry?” Asked Algie smiling.

“Kind of”

Algie laughed hard and finally sat down in front of his empty tea cup.

“No matter the age, the answer is always the same” Said the man and his wife giggled a bit.

“How about your writing? You said you were doing letters, what that means?” Asked Augusta firmly.

“Humm… we had a notebook with models, we were supposed to copy the letters… sometimes we had some words, like our names… our street…” Said Harry

“Did you do a lot of that? how well can you write?” Asked Enid

“Not every well… no desk on my room... and the bed wasn’t very good for writing” Said Harry a bit quiet, ashamed of his past and not wanting to talk about his cupboard. Luckily for him, the adults already knew all about his past living conditions and did not go any further on the matter.

“We’ll work on your writing then” Said Enid with a sweet smile.

“And if you like plants, I can take you to my greenhouse” Said Algie.

“Out of question, I don’t even know the kind of thing you grow in there to take the children” Said Augusta rising her voice.

“Nhaw… there’s nothing wrong in there” Said Algie annoyed making his accent thick.

Augusta didn’t answer with words, but gave the man a pointed look.

“Uncle Algie is always disagreeing with Grandma” Whispered Neville.

Harry looked at the adults curiously, he thought them a very interesting group, he wasn’t sure how life with them would go, but he felt a lot better with them than with the Dursleys so that was already a beginning.

\--

The next few days gave Harry a better idea how life with the Longbottoms was going to be and he very much liked it. Usually he and Neville would be awakened at eight, a lot later than Harry was used to, because he was always supposed to help his Aunt with breakfast and Severus made him wake earlier than that in the days they spend together, so for the first time he was allowed to sleep in a bit, something Enid said was good for children. Sure the first two days he woke up earlier, because old habits die hard, but soon his body got used to the extra sleep and Harry felt a lot better every morning. Breakfast was served at 8:30 and everyone would be present, talking about their plans for the day, after it, Harry and Neville would go to the library to have their lesson until lunch and then they would enjoy the rest of the day as they pleased. In that time, Neville showed him all his toys on the playroom, some of them really interesting as they were only possible with magic and Harry was fascinated by all of them, even the ones Neville said weren’t much fun.

Sometimes, when the two didn’t know what to do, since their friendship was so new and they had more than enough time together, Harry would simply sit somewhere to read and use his new notebook to write, even if poorly, his notes on Severus book of magical plants, a book that now he could understand a lot better since he had people he could ask to help him with words he did not know. Neville would either mind his own business or sit close to Harry to try and read himself, something he should do anyway to try and improve his reading, but in the first time they did this sitting together to read thing, they sat at the Family room, which Harry soon found out to be a big mistake, because even when the family didn’t eat, tea was always present at tea time and Augusta was always ready to criticize her grandchild on his poor reading or anything else she could find wrong with the boy and, not wanting his friend to feel bad because of him, since he could read and Neville could not, Harry decided to only read at his room. Sure Neville was still allowed to sit in his room if he wanted to stick around.

The bad part about living with the Longbottoms, Harry soon found out, was Augusta Longbottom. She was always away in her officer taking care of the family business and letters would come by all times of the day. Sometime she would ask Algie to revise something in Russian for her, saying she regretted not properly learning it like her husband, making both Harry and Neville very afraid she would make them learn it, something the five years olds were not remotely interested on. Also there was one thing that made leaving with Augusta very bad, she was always criticizing everyone around her, Enid, being her husband’s sister was mostly safe, but Algie was constantly seeing muttering russian words after a talk with the woman.

But the worst part was how severe she was with her grandchild, for some reason Neville was never good enough for her and in a few moments Harry almost felt like he was back at the Dursleys, except he wasn’t the  worthless in the story, Neville was, still it was just as bad. She wasn’t as bad to Harry, she would just ask for more improvement saying his parents were very talent, but it still affected him, since he was also a point of comparison because he knew how to read and that somehow he was a prove that Neville was not as talented as his parents. Neville would say it was fine when Harry apologized, but still, Harry started to not work so hard in his writing.

It was only for a short time, but everything was so intense that Harry was quite happy on Friday when he realized that he only had a few more hours before Severus picked him up and he would be able to go back to calm days and, hopefully, to Draco.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter  
> First of all, I really love this chapter so I hope you all like it. We have here the introduction of the Longbottoms, their house and how Harry’s life is going to be for now on.  
> I actually took a lot of time to think about all the little details about this family, we only had a vague idea of how it was like from Neville’s dialogues on the books so I spend some time thinking about this family, who they were, how they act and I quite like them, in fact I’m starting to love writing them now that I know them so well.  
> I had a look at the Black Family Tree made a few years ago by J.K. and in it you have a Black who married a Longbottom and had a son and a daughter and considering the year they were born, I thought they would be Mr. Longbottom’s parents, not Augusta’s be-cause she had another last name since the woman takes the male last name in the Potter verse. It bothers me A LOT when people ignore this and write Augusta as a longbottoms when she was still at Hogwarts.  
> Since it sounds on the books that Augusta’s husband died a long time ago, I dismissed him, but I assumed the uncle Neville mentions on the book would be the husband of his great aunt. In a potter wikia it said their names were Enid and Algie, I don’t know if it is canon at all, but I liked the names.  
> Anyway, I hope you like my take on them and I promise next chapter will be a big one, this one really was an introduction of the family and Harry’s new life, but the next one will start the trouble and the things I really want to deal with in this childhood arc.  
> See ya!


	9. The Wrong Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> It's been a while, hasn't it? Unfortunately, I don't think I can update any faster than this no matter how hard I try, but I'm doing my best to make sure there is some periodical updating.
> 
> The good thing is: THIS CHAPTER IS HUGE. It's the biggest so far and a lot of stuff happens in it and I'm very excited to give it to you.
> 
> Last thing before we get going: a few people came to me worried about Snape's behavior and said that it seemed like he was going to just tread on Harry as he does in canon, but that's not exactly what's happening. He is trying to do that now, but not only is the situation different and he has to face that, but his relationship with Harry will be forever full of ups and downs. In my end note I have a special section on Snape in case you want to know more.
> 
> That said, I want to give thanks again for all the follows and favorites, I really appreciate it and I'm happy to know people are interested in this story. I'm also very happy that I got 3 amazing people sending me reviews and I hope you people know how much I love you all for it.
> 
> Please, keep in mind this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me. I'm trying to do my best, but mistakes happen. I also have as a beta for now, so I think that will help a lot.
> 
> So let's get on with this and if you're interested in reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon or my writing process, read my end notes.

Harry didn't know what to expect on his return to Spinner's End. His last stay was a very complicated situation and his last few days weren't the best (at least regarding his relationship with Severus), so he was quite lost when he got back to the old house, not really knowing what to do.

"I have work to do, so please stay quiet," said Severus not long after they landed in the living room. "And take your things to your room."

Harry looked at the small bag Enid prepared for him with some of his belongings, (mostly books since he only had a few articles of clothes left between both houses) and picked it up, silently leaving for his room. Since Severus was still maintaining his distance, Harry decided to pick up where he left off in his books and read after all, it wasn't like he had much else to do.

After a while, when reading was no longer interesting, Harry started drawing some of the creatures from his _Cat in the Hat_ book, but that only lasted so long and he grew quite tired of it, realizing he wasn't really used to being on his own without anything concrete to do. Usually at the Dursleys he would have chores, helping his Aunt with something, or he would be free to walk around the neighborhood and even enjoy a bit of the park down the street if Dudley wasn't around.

That thought gave Harry an idea; maybe he could ask Severus if he was allowed outside. Not only would it provide him with something to do, but now that Dudley wasn't here, maybe he would even make a few friends.

With that in mind, Harry went downstairs to look for the man, but he was nowhere in sight. He could go around looking for him, but he was a bit afraid the man was going to be mad at him for interrupting his work. It was then that he heard a sound coming from the other room and decided to see if the man was there, maybe if he was careful the man wouldn't be mad.

Stepping inside the room, Harry didn't find Severus anywhere and felt a bit frustrated again with his current situation.

"Harry!"

Hearing his name out of nowhere, Harry looked around the room, but no one was there and he felt confused. He could swear the voice was Draco's.

"In the fireplace, Potter!" said the annoyed voice.

Looking to the fireplace, Harry was surprised to see Draco's face floating among the flames.

"Draco?" said Harry, a bit scared.

"Yeah, I forget you know nothing… Wizards can call each other using fireplaces. It looks a bit weird, but the flames aren't real."

Harry stood there a minute assimilating the new information before sitting down in front of the fire to talk to his friend. He could think more about the weirdness of Wizards another time.

"Well…I'm glad to see you anyway," said Harry.

"Yeah, me too. I've been trying to get a call through for the last twenty minutes, don't you have a house elf? And where's Uncle Severus?"

"We do have a house elf, but I don't know where it is. It just comes and goes when called and I have no idea where Severus is. He said he had work to do."

"He always does…" said Draco, seeming to know the excuse very well. "I wanted to crossover, but Mother said it wasn't polite to go without a warning or invitation. I will make sure Father talks to him as soon as he's home, so we can hang out tomorrow."

Harry's face opened into a big smile at the prospect of seeing his friend the next day; he wanted to tell him all about his days with the Longbottoms.

"We're gonna have to organize our meetings since you're only here on weekends… It's awful, by the way, my week was really boring. It would have been a lot better if you were around."

"I've missed you, too."

"Who are you talking to?" said Severus' voice all of a sudden.

Harry looked around and found Severus by the door.

"It's me, Uncle Sev, in the fireplace," said Draco.

Severus walked inside the room, approaching the fireplace and finding Draco's floating head.

"Draco."

"Hey. I tried to contact you to know if I could come over, but no one answered before Harry showed up."

"Yes. I was working and the house elf I'm currently using is actually a Hogwarts elf, so she wouldn't have been able to pick up."

"I see… Mind if I go, now?"

"It's almost time for dinner, I'm sure your Mother wouldn't appreciate you missing it. Come tomorrow, if you must." Draco looked a bit disappointed, but didn't say anything and Severus, if he realized, didn't seem to care either way. "You should get going, you and Potter can talk more tomorrow."

"Right… Bye, Harry," said Draco, still sounding disappointed.

"Bye," Harry said simply. He wasn't much sure how he felt when Severus just turned up and ended their conversation.

Draco's floating head disappeared and the flames soon followed. Harry kept looking at it, more because he didn't know what to do then than anything else.

"Go shower," said Severus suddenly. "Dinner will be here shortly, so do it now."

Harry looked at the man for a bit, his brain still a bit slow to make him immediately react.

"Have you suddenly turned deaf so that I have to repeat myself?" Severus said, a bit more aggressive.

Harry, a bit startled by the man's slightly mean behavior, soon left the room, trying to get back to his own room as fast as possible without running.

There was no arguing, the man didn't like him.

—

Later that day, Lucius did pay Severus a visit, trying to convince him to let Draco spend the night the next day. It was quite clear the man was interested in maintaining close contact between his son and the Potter boy, not only for future usage, but because he wanted to know if the Longbottoms would make any considerable change in the boy.

Severus knew that Lucius was one of the believers that Potter could turn out to be the next Dark Lord. Severus thought that stupid, not only because it was easy to see that the boy didn't have it in him, but also because he was probably going to follow in his Father's footsteps and turn out as a proud Gryffindor. He would need a much bigger push than Draco to turn dark, especially because in Severus' eyes, Draco was too much like his Mother, more so than his Father, in order to turn really dark. In fact, he didn't even think Lucius as truly so deep on the dark path.

So, not really concerned about Potter, Severus agreed to let Draco come. Maybe the blond would also be able to prevent Potter's head from growing too big with the attention he was obviously getting from the Longbottoms.

—

It was Saturday, but Draco woke up long before anyone could come to wake him. He was impatient and ready to start the day. By the time breakfast was served, he was dressed and all the things he was going to take to Severus' house were already packed.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you so impatient, Draco. And it's not even your birthday yet," said Narcissa when the family sat together to eat.

"Well… I have done nothing all week and I need to make sure I've still got Harry as my friend…" said Draco in an attempt to give a good explanation for his behavior.

Lucius snorted at his son's silliness.

"I'm sure those blood traitors didn't have time to poison the boy against you," said the man.

"And if you had said you were bored we could have invited one of your friends to come over," said Narcissa.

"Blaise is traveling, he will only be back on Wednesday," said Draco as if his parents didn't know.

"Yes, but you could have invited Vincent or Theodore, don't you like them?"

"Hummm…" Draco didn't answer, but it was clear he wasn't excited to meet with either of those two. Although his parents knew he wasn't really friends with Crabbe and Nott, they insisted on the friendship because they were both allies and their parents had worked together under the Dark Lord's command.

"You also could have come with me to the Parkinson Manor, Viola and I had a lovely time. I'm sure you and Pansy could have enjoyed each other's company, I'm she sure is a lovely girl."

"Lovely?" asked Draco, disbelieving.

"Don't you think so?"

Draco tried to form an answer but when nothing came, Narcissa sighed.

"Maybe when you're older."

"Hopefully not," said Lucius standing from the table. "Draco, if you're done, I would like to go now."

Draco grabbed his pumpkin juice and swallowed it in one go, cleaning his face and standing the same as his father.

"I'm done."

"I could take him, if you're in a hurry, I haven't seen Severus in a while," said Narcisa taking her eyes away from the _Prophet_ she had been reading to look at her husband.

"Maybe another day. I want to check on Potter and talk with Severus about some things. As you probably noticed, the _Prophet_ is playing things in our favor, but I want to know what step to take next."

"I don't think Severus is going to help you take Dumbledore out of Hogwarts."

"He doesn't need to know that he's helping," said Lucius, smiling and walking around to his wife. "I will go straight to the Ministry, so I shall see you later."

Planting a kiss to his wife's forehead, Lucius made a sign for Draco to follow and the two went on their way.

—

Harry was trying his hardest to keep himself as neutral as possible as he waited for Draco in the room with the fireplace.

In truth, he was very excited, but Snape wasn't. If anything he looked very irritated and Harry was afraid that if angered, the man wouldn't allow Draco to come anymore. Although in the beginning he wasn't sure if the change in Severus' behavior was intentional, now Harry was: they were both sitting one next to the other, but the man didn't make any move to indicate he even noticed he was in the room with him. In fact, he was always avoiding Harry and didn't even give a chance for Harry to ask about the potions book.

The fire went wild and soon Mr. Malfoy and Draco were coming out of the fireplace, taking Harry away from his thoughts.

"Morning, Severus, Mr. Potter," said Lucius to the two hosts.

"Morning," said Severus.

"Hey, Harry," said Draco with a smile and Harry finally felt free to do the same and get closer to his friend.

"Tipsy," said Severus suddenly and the house elf popped into existence. "Take Draco's belongings to his room."

"Yes, Master," said the elf grabbing the bag Draco brought with him and disappearing.

"Potter, go show Draco his room and then you two can go do whatever. Do. Not. Leave. This. House."

"Yes, Sir," said Harry quietly. "It was nice seeing you, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said politely, as he remembered from his days with the Dursleys.

The man nodded.

"Remember to behave, Draco," said Lucius lightly, not sounding worried about Draco's behavior at all.

"I will, Father," said Draco and the two boys left the room.

The two went up the stairs and Harry showed Draco to the room next to his, which had been cleaned the day before for Draco's arrival.

"So…this is your room," said Harry.

"It's acceptable," said Draco, looking inside and spotting his bag in a corner. "What isn't is Uncle Severus. Is he mad at something? I felt like he wanted to get rid of us, he's usually pleased to see me."

"He's been like that since I got here. I think it's me he doesn't want around," Harry said, a bit ashamed.

"That's ridiculous."

Harry didn't say anything. In the beginning he might have thought Draco was right, but he was used to not being wanted, so he saw all the signs.

The two left the room; there wasn't anything inside and Harry's room at least felt a bit more lived in, and therefore, comfortable.

"So, what have you been doing around here?" Draco asked as the two sat down on the bed.

"Homework, mostly," said Harry.

"Homework?" Draco asked, scandalized.

"Enid is teaching me and Neville the stuff I had at school, so she gives us a few assignments to do and I still have the books I got from Severus. Sometimes I just read, sometimes I make notes."

"That doesn't sound like any fun."

"There isn't much to do here," said Harry, feeling frustrated. He knew it wasn't fun, it was like the Dursleys all over again, but worse because at least before he could get out of the house and do something.

"Is that what you've been doing all week? And I thought my week was boring."

"What? No, here is boring, living with Neville is great," said Harry in defense of his true foster home.

"Oh…really?" said Draco a bit disconcerted and hiding his disappointment.

"Yeah. Back there is a really big house, I mean. I never saw something that big."

"My house is really big," said Draco accusingly.

"But I've never been there," Harry said simply.

"Well, you should."

"Right…" said Harry, unsure. "Well, anyway… I have a playroom now. I share it with Neville, but Enid said we will go and buy my own toys."

"I have a play room too, all Purebloods have one."

"Purebloods?"

"It's a type of wizard, we're superior."

"And you and Neville are Purebloods?" asked Harry, uncertain.

"I suppose. The Longbottoms at least haven't disgraced themselves like the Weasleys," said Draco with a bit of disgust in his voice.

"I…don't think I get it," said Harry very confused.

"I will explain it to you later."

"Right…"

"Go on, tell me more about the house, what else do you do there?"

"Well… Enid has been helping me and Neville to get our studies at the same level 'cause Neville doesn't know how to read and write yet, but my writing is very bad, so it doesn't count very much."

"He still hasn't started on his reading?" said Draco, snorting. "So he's an idiot after all."

"No, he's not. He's nice and he's been learning it all right, he just didn't need it yet. And anyway, why would he need to read? He doesn't go to school and he has toys to play with. I only know how to read because it was the only fun thing to do at the Dursleys. Dudley didn't read very well either," Harry said in Neville's defense. He had heard a lot of bad things about Neville's bad reading from Augusta and he didn't want to hear it again from Draco.

"Keeping ahead in your studies is what's going to give us an advantage when we get to Hogwarts," said Draco as if quoting something he had heard before and Harry suspected it was his parent's words. He saw some of the kids at his old school whose parents would make them do extra stuff to make them look like geniuses. Some of the older boys liked to steal their lunches.

"Well…we're working on it," said Harry, determined, and this time Draco didn't question.

"Who's this 'Enid', anyway?"

"She's Madame Longbottom's Sister-in-law and Neville's Great-Aunt."

"Oh, I see. So it's the two of them and this Neville?"

"And Algie, Enid's husband. He's fun. He's Russian and he likes exotic plants. He put an enchanted ivy in one of the bathrooms, but it's growing in the family room now, it's really cool. He also has some other plants in his greenhouse, but Madame hadn't let us get inside yet, but he promised to take me and Neville to the river," Harry said with a big smile.

"I see," said Draco a bit thoughtful. "Seems like you like them."

"I do. It's not all good, but I don't think it will ever be. And Enid and Algie are great and Neville and I are friends now, we even found out we're kind of brothers, so that's gonna be fun…to have a brother."

"What do you mean he's your brother?" said Draco raising his voice sounding a mix of disbelief and like he thought Harry was stupid.

"Well, not by blood, but his Mother was my godmother, so that makes him my godbrother."

"That's stupid, and there's no such thing as a godmother!" said Draco as if he was saying the most obvious thing in the world.

"No it's not, I do have a godmother. All Muggles have them and then my Mum gave me a godmother, who's Neville's Mum."

"So you're basing this in some Muggle thing? That makes it even worse—and why would you want to be brothers with someone retarded?"

"He's NOT retarded!"

"You're the one who said he didn't know how to read!" said Draco, getting defensive.

Harry usually didn't have many opportunity to get mad at people, such behavior at the Dursleys would get him in trouble, but he had been free from suppressing himself so much and he just let the feeling grow in him. He had listened to Augusta saying bad things about her grandson in silence, but he wasn't going to do the same with Draco.

"Well, he's not. He's very smart and nice and he's my friend and he's my brother and you can't say anything about him because you don't even know him," said Harry standing up from the bed and looking Draco in the eye.

For a moment Draco looked desperate, and then mad, but right after he swallowed whatever he was going to say.

"Ok, fine…sorry," said Draco a bit fast.

Harry didn't know if he meant it, the apology, but he didn't want to fight with his friend anymore, so he let it go.

"You're not gonna stop being my friend to stay with Longbottom, right?" Draco asked, a bit wary.

"What?" Harry asked, surprised. "Obviously not, why would I have to choose?"

Draco looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't open his mouth. Harry tried to understand what was going on inside Draco's head, but he didn't succeed, so he just changed the subject, leaving Draco to do the talking about his week and left the topic of the Longbottoms off the table of conversation for now.

—

Draco was not happy. He hadn't expected the Longbottoms to get to Harry so fast. If anything he was hoping the bastards were all boring so Harry would be all his.

A brother was definitely not something he was expecting. Not that he really thought Longbottom was ever going to be Harry's brother just because of some stupid Muggle tradition, but hearing Harry defend the stupid blood traitor made Draco a bit mad. He didn't want Harry to like the other boy more than he liked him, _he_ was supposed to be Harry's best friend and that was it. Sure, Draco intended to make Harry meet his friends, but apart from Blaise, they were all idiots who were going to like Draco even more now that he was friends with Harry Potter.

Also, a part of him was scared, because not only could Harry chose Longbottom over him, but if he started to defend the blood traitors, his father could decide that Harry wasn't what he was expecting and that Draco shouldn't be friends with him. But he wanted to keep Harry as a friend. He didn't know why the feeling was so strong, but it was, and so he would follow it.

In the end, without having much to tell Harry, since his week was so lame, Draco kept silent and so did Harry, the two of them not sure what to do next.

"It would be nice if we could go outside," said Harry all of a sudden.

"Outside? This place has a garden?" Draco asked.

"I don't think so, but we could go around on the street."

"What?!"

"You've never done that?" Harry asked, curious.

"No... Is that even safe?"

"Dudley and I did that a lot…and some of the other kids on the street did too."

Draco thought about it a bit. He didn't think the place Harry lived in was like the streets of London, because he never would have thought that safe, but he did see some of the kids in the village alone while playing, so maybe Harry's previous home was like that.

"I don't know where this house is…but we can ask Uncle Severus if we can go out."

The two soon left the room to look for Severus, but different from what Harry was expecting, it was quite easy to find the man. Lucius was long gone and he was sitting at the table in the living room already surrounded by his work, but not really looking like he was paying attention to it.

"Uncle Severus," Draco said, calling for his attention.

"Draco, do you need something?"

"Harry and I were wondering if we could go outside."

"Outside? This house doesn't have gardens."

"I thought so, but I meant on the street, Harry said he used to do that."

Severus thought for a minute, soon seeming to understand what they wanted.

"Unfortunately, this neighborhood is no longer what it once was, so going outside isn't safe. You two will have to find things to do inside."

Draco exchanged looks with Harry and turned back to his Godfather.

"We understand. Sorry to bother you, Uncle Severus."

Draco looked at Harry, who was clearly disappointed, and grabbed his hand.

"I have some stuff we can color."

"Yeah, I brought some stuff too, we can do that," said Harry, giving Draco a small smile.

With that, the two went back to Harry's room and found small things to do until Tipsy came in to call them down to lunch.

Lunch was a strange thing for Draco. He was used to small talks and peaceful feelings; sometimes his Mother even made them have lunch in the gardens so they could appreciate it as they ate. But here, Draco was confronted by a cold behavior from his Godfather, and therefore, silence from Harry. It was like someone had died and no one had told him about it. It was so awful, Draco was glad when it was over, even if the food was quite good.

"Is it always like that?" Draco asked as soon as they got back to Harry's room.

"Yeah."

Draco watched as Harry laid down on the bed as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and looked as though he believed it.

"I've never seen him like that."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not! I will talk to my Father about it so he can talk with—"

"It's fine," Harry said, louder.

Draco walked to the bed and sat next to him.

"But, doesn't it bother you?"

"No."

"You're lying."

"I'm not," Harry said sitting up and looking Draco in the eye. "I don't want him to like me if he doesn't want to. He doesn't make me do stuff and he gave me my own room and clothes… I'm fine."

Draco looked at Harry. He didn't look fine, if anything, Draco thought he looked worried and upset. Without a word, Draco laid down on the bed and Harry did too.

"We are fine though...right?" asked Draco, a bit unsure.

"Yeah."

Draco nodded and the two stayed just like that. Draco wasn't sure about what was going on inside Harry's mind, but he would just accept it if it meant they would be alright.

—

Harry woke up on his own and for a moment he wasn't much sure where he was, but as he realized someone else was on his bed, the memories of the day before came back to him and he turned to look at Draco's sleeping face. After the two had somehow gotten over their fight, they spent the day trying to find things to do inside the house and at some point both had just collapsed on Harry's bed.

With a crack, Tipsy materialized in the room.

"Master Harry, you're awake! Master Severus sent me to wake you and the Malfoy boy."

"Thank you, Tipsy, I'll wake Draco."

The elf bowed and left with another crack.

Harry turned to Draco, but the blond was already awake.

"I hate how loud they are," said Draco, stretching up.

"Dudley was louder."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, confused.

"He used to run on the stairs."

Draco didn't fully understand, but let it go, understanding that it was something loud as well.

"My clothes are still in the other room…" said Draco like he was talking to himself. "What's the name of the house elf?"

"Tipsy. Why?"

"Tipsy!" said Draco in a commanding voice and the elf showed up with a crack. "Bring my bag from the other room."

The elf went away and after a moment it was back with Draco's belongings.

"Anything else Tipsy can do to help?"

"No," said Draco, and the elf went away.

"Why did you make him do that?" asked Harry.

"To bring my things? That's what they are for."

"But you could just go and get it yourself, Tipsy is not for that," said Harry, even if he wasn't completely sure what Tipsy was for. He thought house elves were like some kind of housekeeper, but never really thought much about it.

"It's exactly what it is for, those things are here to serve us, most of them have come from generations of servitude to one family. Mother said Aunt Wallburga has all the house elf's heads that served the family stuffed on the wall."

"That sounds horrible. Why would someone want stuffed heads on their wall?"

"To show prestige. Although…I do think that's a bit weird, too."

The two laughed a bit and the subject was soon forgotten as they started to change clothes and pack bags, since the both of them were leaving the house later.

Breakfast was just as awkward as dinner and Draco decided not to say anything after it, maybe comment about it with his Father later. But one perk came in the form of Draco asking his Godfather for the Sunday _Prophet_ to see the Quidditch results, which he showed Harry and then had to explain to the boy all about the current teams and the games that were happening as well as qualifications of the World Cup that was going to happen in the Summer.

Soon, the talks about Quidditch became too much and the pair started doing the crosswords, which was a lot of fun since Harry didn't know a lot of things, and Draco got to teach him.

It was almost lunchtime when Lucius came through the fireplace to pick up Draco.

"Father," said Draco in greeting when he and Harry entered the room.

"Draco, Mr. Potter. I hope you two had a fine weekend?"

"Yes, Father," said Draco respectful while Harry only nodded.

"Good. But I'm afraid you will have to come back now, your Mother insists you have lunch with us. Your Grandfather will be joining us."

"He came over from France?" Draco asked, a bit enthusiastically.

"The other one."

"Ah…" said Draco, disappointed. His mother's side of the family wasn't exactly his favorite.

"I'm sure you and Potter can see each other next week," said Lucius. "In fact, Severus, would you oppose that I take the sleepover to the Manor next weekend?"

"I'm not sure if that is very…wise," said Severus, looking at Lucius with a very meaningful stare.

"You are the one responsible for him on the weekends, yes? Or is Dumbledore finally taking an interest? Quite convenient, don't you think?" said Lucius with an obvious sarcasm. "And you're also invited to most of the day. Narcissa decided to organize a gathering among friends next Saturday and I think that is an amazing opportunity for Mr. Potter to meet some respectable Wizards along with some of his future classmates. And as you're a friend as well, your presence would be very much appreciated."

"And what drove Narcissa to do such a thing this time of the year?" asked Severus with false curiosity and a lot of hidden suspicions.

"Actually? She's hoping to give Miss Parkinson a chance to get noticed. She's been heartbroken since yesterday, when she found out Draco wasn't really interested," said Lucius humorously, but also a little victorious, if his smirk was anything to go by.

"So…she's just invited the Parkinsons?" asked Draco, confused.

"She's invited all of your friends."

"And Harry, too?"

"Yes."

"Got that, Harry? You're coming to my house next weekend! And you can meet my friends!"

"Sounds great," said Harry, smiling with Draco's enthusiasm, but soon remembering his actual guardian hadn't agreed to it. He looked up. "Can I go?"

Snape looked at Harry with an annoyed expression, but in the end just made a sound of frustration.

"We'll be there, just send me the time."

"I shall," Lucius said, pleased. "Let's go, Draco."

The boy nodded and turned to Harry.

"Bye, Harry, see you next weekend!"

"Bye, see you," said Harry going for a hug and surprising Draco a bit.

The Malfoys went through the fireplace and disappeared in the flames. Harry looked at Severus to see if the man was going to say anything, but noticed that the man was deep in thought and emanating some kind of fury that Harry wanted to be far away from. He moved to the exit to go back to his room, when Severus stopped him.

"Go get your things, I may as well take you back now."

"Yes, sir," Harry agreed, and then ran to his room.

—

The horrible sensation of apparition slowly faded and Harry found himself close to the gardens of the Longbottom Manor. He followed Snape in the direction of the house when a house elf wearing blue shoes appeared in front of them.

"Zig is here to know who's approaching the estate," said the house elf.

"Severus Snape, I'm dropping back Mr. Potter," Severus gave the elf Harry's bag and turned to the boy. "You know your way inside, I presume?"

Harry nodded not really looking at the man.

"Then I shall see you next week."

With no more words, Severus was gone with a loud crack and Harry found himself alone at the edge of the property.

"Zig will go and tell the Masters that Mr. Potter has returned," said the elf, then he too was gone.

Not wanting to stay there on his own, Harry started to walk in the direction of the house. He had a strange, empty feeling inside, something like the rejection he was used to with the Dursleys, but different. He didn't feel like crying, he wasn't even really sad, just…apathetic (a word he remembered from one of Severus' books he'd read). He had been so happy not too long ago knowing he was going to Draco's house next weekend and then something about Mr. Snape's behavior had just drained him of it.

Harry was almost at the door when Madame Longbottom, Enid and Algie opened it, looking very put out.

"Harry!" said Enid approaching him and checking him over.

"Where's Snape?" asked Algie, looking around as if the man was hiding somewhere.

"He's gone."

"He just left you inside the barrier and left?" asked Enid, sharing a look with her husband.

"Oh, that man," Augusta protested. "I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking—just leaving the boy! Not even a word in advance and in the middle of lunch…"

"It's not the boy's fault, though," said Algie before turning to Harry. "Did you have Lunch, Harry?"

"No."

"That man!" bellowed Augusta before she went inside, muttering angrily.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly, feeling like he should apologize.

"No, no, it's not your fault, no one is angry at you, Harry," said Enid. "Come on, let's get you inside so you can eat. Neville is at the table, he will be happy to see you're so early."

Harry followed the couple inside. He didn't see Augusta, but Neville was indeed at the table.

"Oh, hey, Harry!" Neville said with his mouth a bit full.

"Hey," said Harry smiling at him.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Neville," said Enid as she and her husband sat down at the table.

"Sorry," Neville said, his face pink. "Where's Grandma?"

"I'm not sure, but she just got quite upset with Professor Snape."

"I don't know why she bothered, she knows he's an arse. Harry is only going there to keep the protection spell going. He's not going to turn all caring 'cause of it," said Algie, with his accent going really thick.

"Language, Darling!"

"It's true, though!"

Enid shook her head and turned back to the boys.

"Let's all eat, for now, then we can talk a bit and forget about this upsetting moment."

The group did as they were told and soon lunch was resumed, but in an awkward silence, not common in the house. Augusta did not return so when they were all finished, Enid told the elves to just clear the table because it didn't look like Madame was going to eat. However, they did find her in the family room, deep within her thoughts.

"Did you eat here?" Algie asked as they entered.

"I didn't have the stomach anymore. I wrote Dumbledore, he needs to know what's going on—someone needs to control that man. I trust Dumbledore and that's the only reason I trust that man, but he was a Death Eater, no matter how regretful he is. There's darkness inside of him and that is something I don't trust."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating? He wasn't courteous, but that was it, the boy is in one piece and we were expecting that kind of behavior anyway," said Algie.

"Perhaps…"

A bit of silence fell upon the room before Enid put a smile on her face and turned to Harry, who was shrunken in on one of the sofas with Neville.

"So, Harry, what did you do while you were with Professor Snape? Did you manage to ask him about those notes you had on the book he gave you?"

"Not really. He was very busy and I barely saw him."

"So, what did you do? I think he lives in a Muggle neighborhood, right? Did you meet other kids?" Algie asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"He said we couldn't leave the house because it wasn't nice outside, but Draco came over yesterday, so I wasn't alone."

"Draco? Lucius Malfoy's son?" asked Augusta.

"Yeah."

Augusta made a loud noise of outrage and turned back to Algie.

"See what I'm saying? He's letting Malfoy get close to the boy! We all know he's creating this scandal in the _Prophet_ , shaming Dumbledore! Who knows what he's planning?!"

"Why did Malfoy go to Professor Snape's house, Harry?" asked Enid, concerned.

"He's my friend, he came to see me," said Harry, confused with what was going on.

"Hmph…friend? He's no friend of yours, he's just trying to make you believe this so his Father can get close to you. Lucius Malfoy is not a man to be trusted," Augusta said obvious with distaste.

"I never talk to his father," Harry said, not liking where the conversation was going.

"He's preparing things, putting things in motion. You shouldn't get close to this boy anymore. I'll make sure Dumbledore knows about this—"

"But he's my friend!" said Harry, frustrated.

"You only believe that, but it's not true, you're too young to understand…"

"I understand! He's my friend and you just don't like him because you don't like his father!"

"This boy's aunt is the reason my son and his wife are no longer with us, so I do know best and this conversation ends here. Dumbledore will be informed of this. This "relationship" ends here!" Madame Longbottom said, her voice commanding and rigid.

She stood up and left the room, and the two remaining adults didn't quite know what to say. Harry also stood up and started to cry, and left the room as well, moments later.

—

Sunday dinner was the strangest thing since neither Harry nor Augusta showed up and Enid and her husband only talked in whispers, ignoring Neville's questions about all that had happened during lunch. Yet the next day, it was like nothing had happened. Breakfast was quieter than usual, but then Madame went to her office and Enid started her morning lessons, apart from Harry's obviously puffy eyes, things were indeed the same as they were the week before.

Enid ended up not pushing the boys too much that morning, seeing the mood they were both in, and sent them out to play until lunch.

"Do you want to do anything?" asked Neville as they left the room.

"Not really… But, you can go," said Harry, his voice still sad.

"We can…walk around the garden…and…you can tell me about your friend," Neville said, sounding unsure, but giving Harry a shy smile.

Harry looked at Neville for a minute, but then nodded and the two went outside.

The back garden was very pleasant with as many colorful flowers as the front, but the trees and the bushes made the place look like a little section of forest, with fresh, cool air keeping the place comfortable even in the hot of summer. The two walked on one of the paths enjoying the opportunity to be by themselves, in nature.

In the aristocratic life they lived, this was the closest feeling of freedom.

"So…umm…your friend…" started Neville.

"Draco."

"Yeah… How did you meet him?"

"He was the one that talked to me and my cousin and made the others find me."

"All they told me was that you were with your family, but they were awful and you were going to live with us. Grandma told me to not ask you anything about it," Neville said looking a bit embarrassed for doing the exact opposite of what he had been told to do.

"They never liked me, my Aunt and Uncle. And my cousin Dudley was just as awful. When Draco showed up, his Father and Severus saw me and that's what saved me from the Dursleys."

"So that's why you like him…because he helped save you?"

"He's my first friend… He…he told me stuff about Wizards, and…and he actually likes me."

"That's…nice. I like you too, though."

"I like you too," said Harry, giving the boy a smile. "But you're kind of my brother now. Why can't I have a brother and a friend?"

"I don't know… Grandma doesn't let me close to many people either… I'm happy that at least I got a brother."

Harry looked at Neville and, letting his smile grow bigger, took his hand.

"I'm happy I got you too."

—

When the boys returned for lunch, they were full of smiles, so even with Augusta's closed off face. Their time was a lot more pleasant than it was that morning or the day before. But as soon as they were done, Augusta insisted that she wanted to talk to the boys in private.

"I do know a few things are hard for children to understand, but seeing is usually very good for believing. We're going out, so go change and meet me at the door," said Augusta with unquestionable authority.

Harry and Neville looked at each other, a bit frightened with the situation, both not sure what exactly Madame wanted from them. Yet, they both went to their rooms to change.

"Do you think she's gonna kick me out?" asked Harry when he and Neville went back to meet Augusta.

"Why would she? And I'm going too…she's not kicking me out. I think…"

When they returned to Augusta, they both had fear written all over their faces, but if she noticed, she didn't mention it. She opened the door and gave them a sign to follow, then took their hands when they exited the apparition barrier and apparated.

Harry felt his entire lunch coming to the back of his throat, but as his body hit the floor, he used the last of his will power to swallow the bitter taste.

"Come on, stand up, you're perfectly fine," said Augusta helping him to stand.

Harry took a deep breath and stood firmly on his own two feet.

"Is everything alright? Do you need any help?" said a girl's voice.

When Harry turned, he saw a girl in a white uniform looking at him with concern. He looked around and noticed others with the same white uniform rushing from place to place.

"We're fine, just a bit of apparition sickness, but we are going now," said Augusta in her commanding voice and the girl backed off with a shy smile.

The trio stood in front of an elevator for a few moments and went up. Harry knew Wizards used them too since they had used one in the Ministry, but so far everything about the place was quite Muggle. Still, when they got off, the two boys kept following Augusta and Harry slowly realized he was in a hospital.

At his side, Neville was looking quite tense with every step and seemed to be quite uncomfortable, looking from his Grandmother to Harry with apprehension.

"Are you ok?" asked Harry quietly noticing the constant looks.

"Didn't think Grandma would bring you here," said Neville, not meeting his eyes and not saying anymore.

The group reached a section with lots of beds with many personal effects like pictures and drawings around and if it wasn't for the fact the room held so many beds, Harry might have thought it was someone's bedroom.

"Ah, Mrs. Longbottom!" said another girl in a white uniform. "It's good to see you again, came to see your son again so soon?"

The woman gave a simple nod of acknowledgment to the nurse and went to the far back where a young couple was occupying two beds in the corner.

"Harry, I want you to meet my son, Frank, and his wife, Alice. They're Neville's parents," the woman said with sadness in her eyes.

Harry looked at the couple with surprise. No one ever really talked about Neville's parents in the house and Harry was under the impression they were both dead like his own. But just by one look, Harry knew that despite being alive, something was definitely something wrong with them. The man was looking off into space without blinking and seemed completely unaware there was anyone else there and the woman, although looking in interest to the boys, didn't seem like she was about to talk to them like a patient would when getting visitors.

And again, Harry wasn't even sure why they were in a hospital.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Harry.

At his side Neville made a little noise but he didn't turn to look, starting to feel uncomfortable himself.

"They, just like your parents, fought against You-Know-Who," said the woman, with a bit of pride.

"The man who killed my parents?" Harry asked.

"Yes. When you defeated him, his followers went after them to gather information and they tortured them to the point of insanity."

Harry wasn't sure what to feel, but shock was definitely there somewhere, along with the feeling of something bad twisting in his stomach and for a moment he was worried he would vomit.

"They are now shadows of what they were… The walking bodies of what once were a beautiful young couple," said Augusta, with all the sadness she'd seemed to have been holding back. "We all should be proud of them for fighting. I know I am and I expect Neville to be as well, and like you should be of yours. But it is a sad fate, nonetheless."

Harry wasn't sure pride had anything to do with how he felt and some part of him had a vague idea Neville didn't feel much pride either right now.

"I don't…understand…" said Harry, overflowed with confusion and emotion and not really understanding why Madame Longbottom decided to share her son's fate with him at that moment.

"One of the people who tortured my son was Bellatrix Lestrange. She is in prison now, but Draco Malfoy is her nephew and his Father was a Death Eater just like her, would have done the same given the opportunity."

Another bomb of emotion hit Harry hard in the chest. Draco's Aunt had done it? His own Aunt and Uncle were pretty awful, but never to this level and this made him confused, scared and angry all at the same time. He knew it wasn't Draco's fault, he wasn't responsible for his Aunt's actions, and it made Harry angry that Madame would say it like he was part of it, but it also left Harry a bit uncertain about the boy in a way he couldn't quite understand.

"I don't…" Harry wasn't certain what he was about to say and his confusion was getting stronger to the point where his head hurt, so he started to cry, because he had no other way to respond to such a confusing and frustrating situation.

"I know it's hard, but I need you to see it, so you can understand why you need to stay away from that boy."

Harry didn't answer her. In fact, he didn't quite register what she just said considering how badly his head was hurting and how confused he felt. At his side Neville started crying too and it wasn't clear if it was because he was also confused, because of his parent's fate or because he was the type to cry out of sympathy with a crying person.

Still, no more words were said after that and despite the worried looks the Mediwitch gave the two boys, no one approached them and they quickly left the hospital.

—

When the trio stepped inside the house it was to find an anxious Enid passing by in the entrance hall as her husband watched, sat on the staircase.

"Oh my god! You're back!" said Enid with a sigh of relief.

"I don't know why you were worried at all, I only went out with the kids, nothing atrocious… Unless something happened?" said Augusta, very put out with her sister-in-law's attitude.

"No, nothing happened—it's just that one moment you were mad at Harry and the next you took the boys out without saying a thing, we didn't know what to think."

"What do you think I would do with them? Leave them somewhere? Don't be ridiculous, Enid."

"Where were you, anyway?" asked Algie curiously, but not as anxiously as his wife.

"We went to visit Frank and Alice."

A dead silence filled the room. Enid went rigid and Algie lost his relaxed posture, actually looking concerned as he looked from Augusta to his wife and back.

"What were you _thinking_?" said Enid with total disbelief. "This burden is already hard enough on Neville, why make Harry go through this? They are only five."

"They needed to understand," Augusta said firmly.

"Understand what? How horrible their fates were? They're not old enough to even understand what happened!"

"They can understand that Frank and Alice are not here any longer because of Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy!" Augusta said strongly.

"This is what it's all about?" said Algie in disbelief.

"Harry needs to protect himself from that family and if Snape won't do it, I will, by making him understand what that family is capable of—!"

"I know you're still grieving, Augusta, but this is not right—you're blaming atrocious acts in a child!" Enid plead desperately.

"He will grow—"

"And you don't know what he will become! This is as bad as what they do, you're judging him by his birth!"

"One cannot escape his family's trait and the Malfoys have been mingling with dark magic for a long time," replied Augusta, but not sounding as certain as before.

"One would say the same about Muggleborns," said Algie with false casuality, looking straight into Augusta's eyes.

Another silence rested upon the group and Augusta finally looked down, fidgeting her hands.

"You can't place upon a boy that's barely lived, the weight of those crimes," said Enid finally, her voice much more solemn.

"I… I…." stuttered Augusta, shame slowly showing on her face.

"You know," Algie began, "maybe we could be the boy's salvation. Just like his family can influence him, we could be the good influence."

"Yeah, but apparently we're far from it," said Enid giving Augusta a pointed look.

Augusta didn't say anything more and eventually Enid took a deep breath and turned to the two scared children, their eyes puffy and red.

"Look, boys, we will need to talk about this, but for now we're all tired and stressed, so let's rest and we will talk later. No one is angry with you, okay?" said Enid in the closest thing to a nice motherly voice she could muster at the moment.

The two boys nodded but it was clear they were close to tears again, so she simply told them to go and they promptly followed her instruction. After another deep breath Enid turned to Augusta, not saying a word but giving her a another pointed look before she grabbed her husband's hand and went away with him.

They would talk later.

—

**(END NOTES STARTS HERE, BUT THIS ONE IS BIG, SO THAT'S WHY ITS NOT SEPARATED AS USUAL)**

**Ab** **out Snape:**

**Snape is a very complex character and has translated quite well what it means to be a "gray" person. His love for Lily doesn't redeem him from all the bad things he did, just like his awful personality doesn't make James Potter any less of a bully. That being said, we can all agree Snape is a person constantly conflicted and that will be a big part of the relationship he will have with Harry.**

**In canon, Snape was clearly prepared to ignore the truth and stick with his idea that Harry was just like his Father, a feeling that was not very rational. The fact that he now has to face a younger Harry does not change his irrational hate for him. The thing is, Snape himself suffered with child abuse and neglect and is without a doubt traumatized by it, which is why he can so easily see himself in Harry and therefore feel sympathetic to his situation and try to help just as he would have liked to have been helped in the past, and once that connection was made, it won't completely go away, but, as I have previously stated, Snape is in constant conflict with his feelings and that is what lead him to reject Harry these past few chapters.**

**When I said that he was going to shift to his canon attitude, I meant that he was going to leave his child abuse trauma behind and deal with Harry only based on his feelings for his parents. Unfortunately for him they are not at Hogwarts, but stuck with each other constantly for the next 5 years and that will OBVIOUSLY play a part and will make Snape constantly change his opinion on Harry and the confusion the boy will feel is what will make certain canon events possible and believable in this universe. More than that, Snape's unstable attitude will play a heavy part in Harry's life, for no matter if Snape sees himself as a parent or not, Harry will see him as a Father figure and the problems in their relationship will mark him just as it would happen with any child who had trouble with his parents.**

**So, yeah, I hope this will help you all see how I see Snape and maybe better understand what I'm doing. I'm not disconfirming the effects of them meeting so early on, but I'm also not doing a "change of heart" on Snape, because for me he is a messed up person. They will have good moments and using James won't be the excuse all the time when Snape's feelings for Harry aren't working rationally. So trust me on this bumpy road, I do think a lot about character development when I'm writing this.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter:
> 
> This is the biggest chapter so far and definitely one of the most important because here is the heart of this childhood arc. Harry and Draco's friendship will be challenged all throughout their lives, but in the future they will have enough independence in order to fight for it on their own, but here they are only children and they will need a bit of adult support. But as Sirius once said, "The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us", and unfortunately prejudice is part of that darkness and both sides will have to face it.
> 
> On Draco's part we were all expecting his prejudice, but I believe the Longbottoms were a bit unexpected. It took me a long time to think how I was dealing with all of the things that happens in this chapter, especially the hospital scene, so it was the hardest chapter to write so far.
> 
> I always knew Madame Longbottom was going to be more on the prejudiced side, she shows a lot of that in the books if you've read all of the dialogues where Neville talks about his home life or how he is treated by his family, but I wasn't sure how much was too much. She has a shorter development arc but a very intense one, because she will need to learn that she is prejudiced and realize that kids are not their parents, and that it's not only about Draco, but also about Harry and Neville. It's very clear to me that the biggest reason why she doesn't appreciate Neville until the end of the fifth book is because she doesn't think he has enough of Frank, so if she thinks that about her own, why wouldn't she think this about Draco?
> 
> So, this chapter is her nastiest side being shown. In fact, I think her cruelness here and Enid's line says it all; "You can't place upon a boy that's barely lived, the weight of those crimes," and having that thrown at her face shows her that she was as horrible as what she was fighting against. I think this plot is one of my favorites.
> 
> Now the hospital scene was the worst one ever because we're talking about torture to five-year-olds and it was really hard to think how a child would feel in this situation, because even though they are not stupid, and Harry especially is very mature, they are still too young to fully understand what happened and considering how unsetting the situation is, they will be more upset about it than about the actual "problem" Madame tries to bring forward. A few scenes of the next chapter were written before I could post this because I wasn't sure how to cut the chapter and there will be more reactions in the next one too. I just hope it's believable, I would never really know how a child would react to this, but I tried and I struggled and I rewrote a million times…but yeah, it was tough.
> 
> Also, as I said, Severus will have a long road to follow, so for now he is still in denial and ignoring Harry. Don't mind him much, his plot line should be having some development in two chapter's time, depending on how I'm going to deal with chapter 11.
> 
> See ya!


	10. To Mend a Broken Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> Here is another chapter, I think I was faster this time, wasn’t I?  
> This chapter is also kind of big, so I think you people are going to like it. I really want to hear what you will think about it.  
> Also, I’ve told some people in replies, but I will not keep explaining other characters like I did with Snape, I will just ask you to trust me. My end notes will still exist, but only to talk about the current chapter like I’ve been doing.  
> That said, I want to give thanks again for all the reviews, follows and favorites, I really appreciate it and I’m happy to know people are interested in this story.  
> Please keep in mind that this is my first fanfiction in English, so if you find anything wrong, please just notify me. I’m trying to do my best, but mistakes happen. I also have sgt-phoenix (previously named ‘Sgt.Phoenix’) (you know I love ya) as a beta for now, so I think that will help a lot.  
> So, let’s get on with this and if you’re interested in reading my thoughts on the things I modified from canon or my writing process, read my end notes.

Harry woke up disorientated. He wasn’t sure what time it was and his head hurt from crying himself to sleep.

He sat up on the bed and was soon assaulted by the disgusting smell of vomit and immediately remembered that he had gotten sick while crying. With his stomach upset by the smell, he laid down again to inhale the smell of his pillows instead.

Slowly, he began to think back on all that had happened. When he had gotten back from the hospital, he was just so upset that he couldn’t even think about anything else, he’d just kept on crying until he’d made himself sick. But now, without the crying, he could actually make out his thoughts now and remember Madame’s words.

Neville’s parents were in the hospital and it was Draco’s aunt’s fault.

Harry wondered if Draco knew about it. Did he even know said aunt? Madame seemed to believe he did, saying something about his father.

Harry didn’t understand exactly what the problem was with Mr. Malfoy; everyone seemed to distrust him to some extent, even Severus, who was a friend of his as far as Harry understood.

He felt really bad about Neville’s parents. It sounded awful to have them alive but out of their minds as they had looked in the hospital. Harry wondered if they were always like that, or if there were days when they were normal.

With his head hurting from crying and his thoughts getting all confused again, Harry was ready for another round of it. He could feel the wetness on his cheeks again when a soft knock came through the door and it opened, revealing Enid.

“Hello, Harry. Good to see you’re awake,” said the woman with a sad smile.

Harry didn’t move from his position. He wanted to be left alone since he didn’t felt like talking, but Enid approached and sat down on the bed. Catching wind of the smell of vomit, she saw the mess hidden on the other side of the bed and took out her wand out to cast a spell to clean it away, and turned to Harry with concerned eyes.

“Was that just now?” she asked. “Are you still sick?”

Harry didn’t say anything and just shook his head ‘no’. Enid sighed and called a house elf, asking it for water and a few potions.

"Drink this, it will help settle your stomach," she said when the house elf returned. "And then drink all your water, you’ll need it. I'll make sure the elves prepare something light for you for dinner."

Harry took the potion and the water silently. He wanted to ask Enid to leave, but he didn't think that would be taken very well. Still, his head was hurting and he was still very upset, so he laid back down and without looking at Enid, went back to crying silently.

“Oh, love!” Enid whispered, joining him at his side.

She didn’t say anything more. She just laid with Harry and held him, running her fingers through his hair trying to calm him down, giving him time. Harry on the other hand, was startled for a moment since he had never been comforted before, but he took the affection anyway. Eventually, he turned to her to let himself be held properly.

When Harry finally calmed down a bit, he was surprised to realize just how much he really did need the woman’s comfort. He was so used to being alone in his cupboard, that he didn’t realize he needed to be taken care of by an adult.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Harry,” Enid said very softly. “Unfortunately, Augusta is a stubborn woman who’s still hurting.”

“Because of Draco,” Harry croaked hoarsely.

“No, no…it has nothing to do with Draco. It was a mad woman who hurt Neville’s parents, a woman that Draco probably has never met or even heard of.”

“Then, what is wrong with Draco?”

“Nothing is wrong with him. I’m sure he’s just a sweet child as most five-year-olds are. Unfortunately for him, his father made a lot of bad choices a few years ago and a lot of people distrust him for it.”

“So, he is bad?” he asked.

Enid stopped for a moment to think, and then answered slowly.

“A lot of people will say he is…but people are a lot more complicated than that. There is a lot that goes in-between good and bad…and sometimes even good people can do bad things.”

“Like Madame?”

“Yes, what she did was really bad, even if she’s not a bad person at all.”

“So, Mr. Malfoy is like that?”

“I don’t know. The bad choices he made showed a man that was more bad than good, but you know what the best thing about people is?”

Harry shook his head.

“It’s the power to change. People can change. So maybe Mr. Malfoy will change too, but only time will tell us that.”

“I understand…” Harry said. “Does that mean I can’t be friends with Draco until he changes?”

“Not at all, on the contrary, actually, because if you’re friends with Draco, maybe that is what will help Mr. Malfoy and Augusta see things differently.”

“But what about Neville’s parents? Will they ever be ok? Are they going to get better?”

Enid looked at him sadly.

“No, they won’t. Their condition cannot be cured, so they will be that way forever. Madame just doesn’t want us to pretend that they are dead, or that Neville believes them to be so, but at the same time they are not here either. They are not truly alive.”

“That I don’t understand. How that even happens, how can someone do that to someone else?” Harry was getting upset again. “Madame said something about it, but I didn’t understand!”

“You don’t need to. Neville doesn’t understand either, a lot of people don’t. Maybe when you grow up you will be able to, but you don’t need to right now. You just need to know that they are very ill and that they’ll never get better.”

“Never ever?”

“I wouldn’t say never ever, because maybe one day the healers will discover a way to bring them back, but at least for now and in the near future, they won’t and we aren’t going to hope otherwise. Okay?”

“Okay,” Harry said, and they were quiet for a moment before he spoke again, “What about the woman, that did that to them?”

“She is in a place where she can never hurt anyone again, you can just forget about her, okay?”

Harry nodded. “Okay.”

—

When Harry woke up the next morning his head didn’t hurt anymore, but he took some time to replay all the happenings of the day before. He didn’t feel like crying anymore. He also didn’t have the energy to be upset, so he chose to tend to his needs instead and went to the bathroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror. His face looked very strange with his cheeks all puffy from crying, but there wasn’t anything that could be done about that…

“Harry? Are you in here?” came Algie’s voice.

Harry went back to the room and found him at his bedroom door.

“Hey! It’s almost ten, I came to see if you were okay. Want some breakfast?”

“Ten?” asked Harry. He had assumed it was very early in the morning since he was always awake by eight.

“Enid let you and Neville sleep in today, no lessons. Yesterday was very upsetting,” he said sympathetically.

Harry nodded, not knowing what to say to that and followed Algie out to the kitchen table where Neville and Enid were already eating.

“Good morning, Harry,” Enid greeted.

Harry gave her a half smile and sat down, not looking in Neville’s direction. He felt very awkward with the boy and he must have felt the same, because he didn’t attempt to talk to Harry at all.

Breakfast was a silent affair. It was only when they were mostly done that an owl came in the window and landed by Enid.

“Is that a Ministry seal?” asked Algie as Enid opened it. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, it’s from Madame Bones. All the paperwork was approved and updated in the Ministry and she wants so give us a copy, but she also came by some other things that she wanted to talk Augusta about. She is asking if she can come by later.”

“Can’t believe it took them a bloody week to process a magical guardianship! And then people want to tell us the goblins are a problem…”

“Language, darling. I will talk with Augusta, so she can write back. She must have closed her windows.”

“Yeah, she is sulking. One would think she’s old enough to deal with her own mess…”

Enid threw her husband a dirty look and excused herself. The silence had returned, but without eating to use as a distraction, it was just a pitiful image of two boys with swollen faces trying to avoid one another.

“Come on, this is enough,” Algie declared, getting the attention of the two boys. “Augusta is a bitch sometimes—she doesn’t mean it, but it happens, and we won’t all be depressed in here because of it. Come on, we’re going to the green houses. Let’s see some flora and feed my carnivorous plants.”

Algie stood up and motioned for the boys to do the same.

“Grandma said we couldn’t….” Neville began.

“Screw her, let’s go,” Algie snapped, and the two boys followed.

—

The fireplace went alight with green flames before Amelia Bones stepped inside the Longbottom’s home.

“Augusta, so good to see you,” Amelia greeted.

“Amelia,” said Augusta, hugging her in return.

“Are you alright?” asked Amelia, looking at her friend’s tired face.

“Not really...” Augusta said as the two sat down to talk.

“What happened? Are the boys alright?”

“Yes…we....had a bit of a fight. Algie took them outside to distract them, Enid is cooking something to help cheer them up.”

“Anything I can do?” Amelia asked. “One of the reasons I came by was to ask how Mr. Potter was doing. Is he not adapting well?”

“He apparently made friends with Lucius Malfoy’s son and Snape let the boys interact even after the scandal he is creating around Dumbledore.”

“So you noticed.”

“Oh, I noticed alright,” Augusta snapped angrily. “The _Prophet_ is going crazy about, ‘how Dumbledore let this happen to The-Boy-Who-Lived’. As if they were ever concerned about the boy.”

“Yes… Lucius is using this very well. Not only to put shame on Dumbledore, but also to put rise again on a few of his master’s beliefs. After all, it was muggles who mistreated the boy,” said Amelia, obviously tired from dealing with Malfoy’s political moves all week.

“This should have been dealt with in secrecy, he’s exposing the boy! And for what?”

“Things will be difficult for a while. I suggest you keep the boy out of sight, at least for now.”

“I’m aware…”

There was a moment of silence between the two women. It seemed the time of the Dark Lord’s ascension wasn’t as far behind as it once looked.

“You said Potter and young Malfoy are friends?” Amelia began. “Have you met the boy?”

“No. He saw him when he was with Snape. I tried to convince him to stay away from the boy, but he refused and I lost my head and everyone just got upset…”

“With two people so different being responsible for him it’s not going to be easy… Have you tried talking with Snape?”

“No, but I sent Dumbledore a letter, he thinks Lucius is using his son to influence the boy since he couldn’t get custody, but that we shouldn’t punish the boys and just act with caution.”

“Sounds just like something Dumbledore would say. What does Enid and her husband have to say?”

“Enid thinks we can influence the Malfoy boy just as much as he can influence Harry.”

Amelia stopped a moment, in thought.

“She’s not wrong…”

“Yes, but I still don’t like it, especially since Harry fought quite strongly over keeping the friendship. It seems like Malfoy has the upper hand, here.”

“Maybe, but it also helps he didn’t have any friends before.”

“What do you mean?”

“With the muggles; they kept him isolated. Apparently the cousin was a bit of a bully and most of the neighbors mistrusted the boy because of the lies told by his relatives.”

“You went into contact with the muggles?”

“Yes! That’s why the paperwork took so long!” Amelia sighed exasperatedly. “The aunt had to sign the papers and because he was with muggles he also had a registry in the muggle world—we had to update his status in their system so they wouldn’t notice the boy disappearing. Apparently the school was about to call social services.”

“As they should have! Would have been good if they did!”

“Yes, but unfortunately this would mean that the case would be going through the muggle systems as well, it would be an all-around mess that just isn’t worth it.”

“Did you erase him from the system?”

“No, no, best to keep him in, never know what he will decide to do in the future. Snape had a muggle father so he’s in the system as well, so we just assigned him as the official guardian.”

Amelia gave Augusta the package with the paperwork.

“Here is the copy of guardianship, signed both from us and the muggles, and Mr. Potter’s birth certificate, in case he ever needs anything from the muggle world.”

“Thank you, Amelia,” said Augusta. Amelia nodded.

“Well, I’d better get going,” she said as she stood. “Don’t worry so much about the Malfoy boy. Harry needs friends. I’m sure he and Neville will bond strongly soon enough and you will see he will make other friends. Five more years and he will be at Hogwarts safe and sound.”

“What about Susan?” asked Augusta, suddenly remembering Amelia’s niece.

“She’s fine, she’s with her uncle. She’s got a cousin of the same age and he’s got a lot of friends, she wants to go to muggle school now! I’m thinking of letting her. I try to keep my work hours consistent, without taking on any extra shifts, but I still feel I’m not dedicating enough time to her education. I just worry about her getting too involved with friends she can’t share everything with. Of course her family knows, but she won’t be able to talk about magic with any of her muggle friends, not to mention any accidental magic that could happen at any given moment.”

“Why don’t you bring her here?” Augusta suggested. “Harry seemed to like her when they met and as you said, he could do with a friend.”

“I think that could be a very good idea! Just tell me when is good for you.”

“You can bring her tomorrow, if you want, I only have him until Friday anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Alright, I will firecall you later to arrange a time.”

The two women said their goodbyes and Amelia left, leaving Augusta in a much better mood and something to look forward to.

—

Harry was walking around, looking at all the different plants in the greenhouse, a lot of them unlike anything he’d ever seen before. He and Neville had already fed the carnivorous plants with Algie and Harry thought that had been the coolest thing he had ever done. The carnivorous plants were very beautiful and the little ones would let you pet them a little before it tried to eat your fingers.

Harry was thinking about heading back to pet the baby plants again when he saw Neville standing in front of some blue flowers and looking completely lost in thoughts.

“What are those? Are they magical?” asked Harry, getting closer to Neville. The two of them hadn’t really talked to each other since they had left for the hospital.

“They are roses, but they are magical,” said Neville.

The two stood there in awkward silence for a while and Harry was beginning to walk away to leave him alone, when Neville spoke again.

“There aren’t any blue roses in nature. Usually you can put color in the white ones, but my mum thought blue was the best color, so my dad invented a potion that you use on the seeds so the roses that would grow from them would be blue and he gave them to my mum when he asked her to marry him… All the flowers at their wedding were blue roses.”

Harry looked back to the flowers with a new appreciation. They were much more meaningful now.

“I miss them, but I hate going to the hospital,” said Neville in a quiet voice, and when Harry looked at him he was already crying. “They look horrible and they don’t even know who I am.”

“I don’t know anything about my parents or what they looked like apart from that picture of my dad you all gave me. Severus said he knew my mum, but he never talks about her and he is the only person that I know who knew her,” Harry said, not really looking at Neville until he was finished.

“I’m sorry,” said Neville.

“I’m sorry too.”

The two looked at each other for a bit until Neville moved to give Harry a hug. They stayed in each other’s arms for a while and when they let go, there was nothing more to be said, but they both knew that they were going to be okay.

—

Lunch was a much more cheerful affair than breakfast and both Enid and Algie were pleased that the two boys were well again, leaving them to enjoy their day off. When tea time came, the boys were surprised with more sweets than usual, and by Madame’s presence.

“I suppose I owe you an apology, Harry,” said Augusta when they were all seated at the table.

Harry didn’t reply. He knew very well that Madame was the one who did something horrible, but his previous experiences with the Dursleys taught him that adults were never wrong and that kids should just shut up, so he sat there quietly.

Soon everyone would be fine with pretending that nothing had ever happened.

“How did your meeting with Amelia go?” asked Enid after some time of silence.

“It was well,” Madame replied. “She brought me all of Harry’s documents, both from the Ministry and from the muggles.”

“How did they change his files in the muggle’s database?” Algie asked.

“Snape is already in the system, so as far as the muggles are concerned, Harry is now his adopted child.”

“Severus is my father?” asked Harry, surprised.

“No, no, the muggles only think he is because adoption was the easiest way to explain your new guardianship, but what really matters is the arrangement that we made at the Ministry.”

“Oh…okay,” said Harry, trying to pretend he didn’t care, but a part of him was a bit disappointed. Being adopted would mean he had another family besides the Dursleys. He didn’t really see the Longbottoms as his family, but more like his caretakers. Not that he wanted to go back to the Dursleys, because he didn’t, but a part of him still felt weird living away with strangers.

“By the way,” Augusta went on, “I invited her niece to come over tomorrow, I think it would be good for the boys.”

“Friends are always good,” Enid agreed.

“Do you still remember Susan, Harry?” Augusta asked. “You met her at the Ministry?”

Harry stopped to think about the day he went to the Ministry. So much had happened since then that it seemed like it was such a long time ago.

“Yeah… We built a castle and a village with her blocks.”

“Well, she is the one coming over tomorrow.”

Harry smiled. The girl had been really nice and he wouldn’t mind seeing her again.

“Okay.”

“What time is she coming?” asked Enid.

“I don’t know yet, Amelia still has yet to call and schedule.”

“Invite her for lunch, we could do a picnic by the pond,” Algie suggested.

“That’s a beautiful idea, love,” Enid said, and her husband smiled.

“The kids could also go and swim for a bit, it’s so hot this spring. Better enjoy it while we can, ‘cause it’s never this hot this time of the year.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?” asked Augusta.

“Why would it be? The pond is wide, but it’s not very deep, and we’ll be there to supervise,” said Algie. He turned to Harry. “Do you know how to swim, Harry?”

“No,” he said shyly.

“Well, here comes a good opportunity to learn! Neville learned last summer. You still remember I hope?” Algie asked Neville.

“I suppose…” the boy said uncertainly.

Conversations then began to shift to proposing different ideas for activities they could do the next day and Augusta was pleased to see that her idea was a good one after all.

—

The next day, both Harry and Neville awoke to do their morning activities as usual, but were sent to change at eleven, something that left them really excited. All conversation from the day before about what they would do on their picnic at the pond had left everyone in a good mood.

“I will have to shrink a pair of Neville’s trunks,” said Enid when she noticed Harry didn’t have any swimming clothes. “But we’ll eventually need to go and buy Harry his own…and more clothes as well…”

Harry was surprised, because he wasn’t used to it with the Dursleys, but he no longer thought it was strange for people to buy him things, especially not the Longbottoms. Although they had not been living together long, Harry was certain that they were indeed just that nice (even if Madame wasn’t most of the time).

When everyone was properly dressed, they all gathered by the fireplace to wait and Harry was pleasantly surprised that not only was Madame in light clothing, but that she was also in good spirits. It was not long before the green fire appeared and both Madame Bones and her niece came out of it.

“Amelia,” said Augusta, greeting her friend with a smile.

“Oh, so this is Susan,” said Enid smiling to the little girl.

“Oh yeah, you haven’t met her yet, Enid.”

“No…but she’s beautiful, just like her mother.”

Amelia’s smile wilted a little, but her spirits soon lightened again so she wouldn’t upset her niece.

“You knew my mother?” Susan asked shyly.

“Not really, but I knew your father and I was at their wedding.”

“Oh…” Susan looked at Enid, fascinated.

“Aaahh, no more speak of the dead, now,” Algie sniped, annoyed, and turning to the little girl. “Did you bring a swimming suit?”

“It’s under her dress,” said Amelia.

“Then we’re wasting time, the pond awaits us!” Algie boomed, which sounded funny with his thick accent. “Come on, kids!”

Doing an amusing march, Algie left the room followed by Harry, Neville and Susan, who were giggling at his antics. Enid said her goodbyes to Amelia and left as well.

Susan looked around the garden in amazement. It was very pretty and she loved it all, saying that it reminded her of the one at her own house.

Soon the group reached the pond. It was quite big, but clearly the area had been gardened because the plants around it weren’t very big. It was a beautiful place.

“So, Susan…” began Enid, “I’m sure you remember Harry, but you have yet to meet my great nephew, Neville.”

The two kids looked at each other timidly, but Neville said a quiet ‘hello’, and the awkwardness passed.

“So, I’m Enid and this is my husband, Algie.”

“Hello,” said Algie, making her giggle as he waved at her.

“Do you know how to swim?” asked Enid.

“A little, uncle Matthew took me to the beach last summer,” said Susan.

“Then fear not, because you’re all about to learn from the best swimmer around,” Algie declared. “Come on, let’s all get out of these clothes and get wet!”

Enid looked in amusement to her husband, letting him lead the kids. It was times like these, when he was so happy with the children that made her sad the most that they weren’t able to have their own.

—

By the time Madame had come from the manor, Algie already had the children entertained and set learning how to swim in the form of a game. Though it was very unfortunate that even though Neville had learned how to swim last summer, he was still the worst between the kids and was therefore losing miserably.

“You need to close your fingers,” said Susan, trying to help him, “or you won’t be able to move.”

“I take it that everything went well between them,” said Madame, sitting next to Enid.

“Yes. They were shy in the beginning, but they are having fun now.”

“That’s good.”

Enid looked at Augusta for a moment with a pointedly serious expression.

“Go ahead and say it,” Madame sighed resignedly.

“Kids always act like everything is good and forgotten, because they usually don’t know how to deal with such complex feelings, but things like what happened yesterday tend to leave quite a scar, Augusta.”

“I think you’ve already given me quite the lecture on your opinions of yesterday,” said Augusta tiredly.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do now. I just want you to make sure you make it a priority to deal with your own complex feelings properly, because pretending nothing happened will do no good. One day this same discussion will come back around and we will need to have learned at least a little from this.”

Augusta didn’t say anything, but it was clear in her expression that she understood what her sister-in-law was saying.

“Also, you should be aware you just lost their trust, they are both wary of you now. You will need to mend this relationship on your own.”

“I understand,” said Augusta.

“Good.”

—

Enid eventually went to wade into the water and joined in the game with the kids until the house elves came with lunch and a few towels.

“That was fun,” said Susan as she took a seat around the spot they were going to eat.

“We’ll need to rest for a while after eating, but I’m sure we will have time for another round before you go,” said Algie.

“I hope so. Do you always play in the pond?”

“Not at this time of the year. It’s usually still cold in the spring, but we try in the summer if we are not traveling,” said Enid.

“That’s nice. Back home there is a lot of space, but not much to do.”

“What do you usually do every day?” asked Enid as she distributed the plates and sandwiches.

“I go to my uncle’s house. My aunt always gives me lessons to practice, so I do them while Liam is at school and then when he gets back we play a bit and I help him with homework so I can learn his muggle stuff. Sometimes we go out to some event at the school. If my aunt gets out of work early, we all do something together.”

“But do you like staying with your muggle family?” asked Algie.

“Yeah! I just wish I could go to school with Liam, it sounds very nice.”

“I used to go to school,” said Harry.

“Really?” Susan asked, sounding excited.

“Yeah. I went with my cousin, but I didn’t like it very much. I suppose gym was okay when the other kids weren’t chasing after me.”

“But didn’t you have a lot of fun classes like music and art?” Susan asked, seeming disappointed.

“We didn’t do anything in art and I wasn’t allowed to do the fun stuff in music because to play I needed to have a way to practice at home and the Dursleys would never buy me a keyboard to use as a piano.”

“You never said you liked the piano, Harry,” said Enid. “We have one here if you want to learn how to play.”

“It doesn’t matter, it was just that in class we had to choose something and I thought the piano was nice. I don’t really want to learn it.”

Despite his intention to sound uninterested, it was obvious to the adults that Harry was a bit bothered with the fact he was denied the music activity.

“Well…that’s sad. Liam is not very good at his art classes, but he said it is really nice, and he is in the choir!”

“Dudley tried the choir, but he was so bad the teacher kicked him out. Uncle Vernon was furious.”

“Ouch…that should have been funny,” said Susan, smiling.

“It was, he was really awful,” said Harry, and the two laughed.

“School doesn’t sound all that bad,” said Algie. “I had no idea there was so much stuff to do.”

“There is!” Susan exclaimed. “You learn to read and write, do math, science…you can even learn welsh! Liam is teaching me welsh.”

“Welsh?” asked Algie, confused.

“I didn’t learn welsh,” said Harry, also confused. “I knew we could pick a language in stage 2, but I didn’t know you could pick welsh.”

“Oh…he lives in Cardiff, maybe that’s why?”

“You do learn welsh in Wales, that makes sense,” said Algie.

“So many things to learn and all the interactions with other children, you’re right darling, it doesn’t sound bad at all,” said Enid, sounding impressed.

“I really want aunt Amelia to let me go to school next year. Muggleborns do it, Harry did it…”

“Indeed….” said Enid, looking pensive. “You only asked about school once, Harry, but we never considered you would be missing it.”

“I’m not,” Harry assured her.

“Because of going to school itself, or because your family made it hard for you?” she asked.

Harry didn’t answer verbally, but his silence was enough of an answer.

“Come now, Enid, you can’t really be thinking about sending him back,” Augusta insisted.

“It’s not a bad idea. His last school wasn’t all that nice, but the school in Cardiff sounds fun, Neville could even enjoy it,” said Algie.

“Don’t be silly, it would be nothing but a lot of empty knowledge. There isn’t much the muggles could teach them that we can’t and they will be going to Hogwarts soon enough.”

“Any kind of knowledge is useful,” Algie argued. “It makes you wiser even if you don’t use it.”

“And this is not about the use of the knowledge, but about a place where the kids could meet other kids and explore new things, that as you just mentioned, they won’t have at Hogwarts,” said Enid. “And they could use this sort of environment now.”

“I don’t see it like that, but I suppose we will have to agree to disagree, as we have apparently been doing all week,” Augusta said tightly, ending the argument before it turned sour.

Enid and Algie looked at each other, but neither said anything to avoid causing more family trouble, but the idea remained in the back of their minds. Wizards lived separated from the muggle world and never before had they had considered the things it could offer, and they were very happy to learn so much about it.

It was a shame Augusta clearly didn’t think so.

—

Even with Madame’s disinterest in muggle culture, Susan was more than happy to ask Harry all kinds of questions. And even when he had to admit to not having been allowed some things, like watching the television or playing a video game, he still knew enough to engage in conversation with her.

Neville didn’t know a thing about muggles and thought that the things they talked about made them sound like they were from a whole other planet, but Harry and Susan were more than happy to tell him more about it and soon he was asking his own questions as well.

Apparently ‘ _Disney_ ’ was very important and Neville had to watch at least one of their movies, so Susan was going to arrange a meeting at her uncle’s house so they could use his VHS player (whatever that was). Susan also really loved musicals and wanted to be a singer one day. She knew things about music even Harry didn’t; apparently ‘ _The Beatles_ ’ were really famous, although Harry’s aunt hated them, and ‘ _The Wizard of Oz_ ’ was really beautiful (or very boring in Harry’s opinion). But what Susan really wanted was to see the new play in London that had some French name.

Unfortunately, Harry said that even though his uncle was really proud to have won tickets for it in the past, he really hated it and said all kinds of bad things every time they showed something about it on the television.

By the time the clock struck five and the kids were dry and in thier clothes waiting for Amelia, it felt like they had known each other for months.

Harry, who so far had been quiet and shy, had really come out of his shell as he talked about what was familiar to him and the adults were positive the meeting had been a success.

“Calm down, I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” Amelia chuckled when Susan had run up to her as soon as she emerged through the floo, rambling on in a very fast and excited voice all about her day.

“I take it they enjoyed her visit?” Amelia asked with a smile.

“Oh, they did!” said Enid. “I think they are best friends now.”

The two women laughed and Augusta offered Amelia a cup of tea so she could actually sit down and hear all about Susan’s day. It was very pleasant to hear all about the amazing day the kids had had and that Susan was able to “talk muggle” with Harry.

“She told us all about muggle school, we had no idea it was so interesting,” said Enid.

“Oh, she’s been going on about it for so long now, I hope she hasn’t talked your ears off,” said Amelia with good humor.

“Oh no, we actually enjoyed hearing about it. It sounds fantastic.”

“It does. I think I would let her go…although, the accidental magic issues is still what worries me…”

“Muggleborns do it!” Algie exclaimed. “Why the hell do we have the ‘ _Accidental Magic Reversal Squad_ ’? It’s not there just to waste money.”

“It also doesn’t mean we need to give them any unnecessary problems,” Augusta said testily, “preventing exposure starts with us. It’s by depending on the Ministry for everything that we’ve created the problems we have today. Everything is endless involvement with bureaucracy—and no offence to you, Amelia, I know you do your best, but to solve the small problems, it takes forever; lots of unnecessary paperwork and a lot of wasted money on people who don’t want to work.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure three kids going to school are going to aggravate every single problem that they could ever possibly have down at the Ministry,” Algie groaned sarcastically. “Never mind that Fudge is a buffoon.”

“Three? You’d better not be counting Neville,” Augusta warned.

Algie was ready to give the woman a reply, when Enid kicked him.

“Can we please not fight again today?” she plead.

Algie and Augusta remained silent, clear that they still had plenty to say to one another. With the tension of an impending fight starting to crackle in the air, Amelia made her excuses to leave, promising the kids that they would arrange another meeting and the kids parted ways with smiles and hugs.

“Well, you two should go shower and rest before dinner,” said Enid, and the boys, sharing a knowing look, ran from the room.

The three remaining adults looked at each other, waiting to see who would start first.

“I don’t know what’s enchanted you to this mad idea,” Augusta began, to which Algie had rolled his eyes. “I can’t tell Amelia how to deal with her niece, but I know what to do with my grandson.”

“The idea is not a bad one,” said Enid, “the muggle world a part of Harry should we really take that from him? You saw him today. He still loves a lot of the things he used to do and we are depriving him of another chance to experience it without his horrible relatives looming over him. Hasn’t he lost enough?”

“He is going to Hogwarts!”

“In five years! Right now he is not learning any magic, he is learning how to read, how to write, how to calculate…just like muggles do. We should give him a smooth transition, not just take him from the world he knows to just be abruptly thrown into another.”

“This is _his_ world! He is a _wizard_ , just like his mother and father!”

“BUT HE IS NOT HIS PARENTS!” Algie roared in a mix of frustration and anger. “And neither is Neville!”

Augusta drew herself up straight, her expression cool.

“You’re putting words in my mouth.”

“I’m not! That’s exactly what you do all the time, looking for Frank in Neville, but he is not there and never will be because Neville has no idea who his father was!”

“That is not true!”

“It’s true enough! He can stare at that empty shell in that hospital his entire life, but it will never tell him a thing, Augusta.”

“You can’t talk like that…” Augusta’s voice trembled.

Algie took a deep breath.

“We’re old, Augusta. I fought in the war. I lost my brother and I saw Russia tear itself apart. I can now only sit here and do nothing but take care of my plants and my wife. But these kids are just starting out, they will want to do things, not because of their parents, but because they are alive. You can spend the rest of your days mourning for the terrible losses you suffered, but they don’t have to mourn with you.”

Augusta didn’t answer, but her eyes were red and wet and her expression was tired.

“Until Harry showed up, Neville didn’t know any other children, magical or otherwise, and we all thought he was a squib because he was five and never did any magic. All he needed was to meet another kid to help him along and now he can make things float. That should show us how good it is for him to get out of this house, getting to know other kids, instead of being here where he’s constantly surrounded by old people.

“…I just want to keep him safe,” Augusta said through her tears.

“An animal is safe in a cage, it doesn’t mean it’s happy.”

Algie looked at Augusta, deep into her eyes.

“If Neville really had been a squib, what were we going to do with him? The wizarding world doesn’t know what to do with squibs, most of them just go into the muggle world where they can be just like everybody else. Were you going to keep him here? You have money, but he has an entire life. If you kept him here to just live like us, he would die before he was thirty.”

Augusta began to cry. The past few days had been so emotionally exhaustive and she was so tired… Enid approached and held her as she cried.

“Had things been different, maybe nothing would have changed, but the world has given us another child and with him a lot of changes, a lot of new opportunities for us. We’re older, but we are not dead yet. We can still learn whatever it is the universe is trying to teach us. We can’t let this tear us apart,” whispered Enid with tears in her eyes as the two women held each other desperately.

Algie took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around them both. It was now time to put this behind them. Now was the time for peace.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About this chapter:
> 
> So, this is the second part of the conflict between Harry and the Longbottoms.
> 
> This chapter, like the last one, was really hard to write and I had to break it into little pieces within my work plan just so I could actually finish it.
> 
> The first part is all about Harry trying to understand all that happened the day before. He’s just five, so there is a lot of things he probably wouldn’t understand and I think Enid’s explanation about Mr. Malfoy, even if she doesn’t truly believe it, is the best to give to a child, especially because she’s trying to not alienate him. Eventually, Harry will have his own opinion about Lucius.
> 
> Also, just so you know: no, Frank and Alice will not get better.
> 
> Obviously, after all the mess, Harry and Neville would feel awkward with each other. They aren’t very close yet, so I wanted a way to get them back together that would be delicate and show their mutual understanding, because essentially they’re both orphans. I think it did work out.
> 
> Funny story; I love blue roses. That’s where this little tale comes from. When I was younger I was a huge fan of Japanese comics (I still am, but not as much now) and there was one called ‘Paradise Kiss’, and there was a moment in the story when the guy talked about the mystery of the blue rose, because they didn’t exist in nature. It was a very interesting thing and I went after it and I studied all about blue flowers natural or artificial and in the end I’m still in love with the idea of blue roses because of that comic.
> 
> So…yeah, I hope you liked this little story about Ne-ville’s parents. Frank could after all be good in potions and herbology to the point of creating a new type of plant. And since we don’t know much about the family, maybe they do sell exotic plants. Algie certainly is a herbologist in my story.
> 
> Another interesting thing about this chapter is that initially it was going to be about Susan. When I first made the story outline I knew chapter 9 was going to bring up the problem with Harry being friends with a Malfoy and then chapter 10 was going to be about making a new friend that Madame approved of. In the end, all my worries about introducing a new character to the main cast were in vain because the character quite literally wrote themselves and made this family conflict much bigger than I first intended.
> 
> So, in the end, Susan’s appearance, although introducing the new subplot, became a lot less important. She will have to wait for her big moment I suppose...
> 
> Also, the doubts the Longbottoms have about Harry’s muggle side took a new turn, not only because they are fighting a lot more about it than I first thought, but also because I explored a lot more of my possibilities. I always wanted a few muggle elements to be part of the story, but I wasn’t very certain how they were going to be introduced. I ended up studying about the educational system in the UK; in a way they have a few things I could identify with my experience with US education and then the idea that the kids could actually go to muggle school grew on me.
> 
> I’m very curious about what you people will think about this idea of muggle school.
> 
> Also, another curious thing about me that ended up in the story; I always wanted to play the piano.
> 
> In Brazil, where I live, musical education is not very common. Usually if you don’t have someone in your family who pushes you to do it, you won’t have much contact with it because most schools don’t have even the basics in music, so you will only develop some interest in it when you’re older and can choose for yourself. Since I was a child my dad would take me to watch the orchestra, so I loved classical music, but I was too young to have them know I actually wanted to learn it as well.
> 
> When I was older it was even more difficult because of my school schedule and because my mum wasn’t very helpful and was completely against me having a keyboard at home, even if I was already trying to self study. In the end I still don’t know how to play the piano. I know where the notes are and I can read a music sheet, but I can’t just sit down and play much more than those basic Beethoven songs everyone learns when they are starting.
> 
> So even if Harry doesn’t become really involved with music in his later years, he will learn the piano to satisfy this author’s frustration. Be prepared to see some things about music, because I think it’s awesome that in the UK music is a part of their required curriculum and I totally intend to use it until they go to Hogwarts to learn magic.
> 
> One thing I can promise is that I will try not to make the childhood arc too much bigger because of the muggle school idea. In my first chapter planning, that wasn’t in-cluded, so their childhood arc wasn’t meant to be too long and I will try to keep it that way so we can get them into Hogwarts.
> 
> See ya!!


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